School times

For children in Reception to Year 6:

Gates open at 8:40am

Gates close at 9am

Day ends at 3:15pm

For children in Nursery:

Gates open at 8:40am

Gates close at 9am

Day ends at 3pm

Attendance 

Working together to improve school attendance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

"Pupils need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education. Missing out on lessons leaves children vulnerable to falling behind. Children with poor attendance tend to achieve less in both primary and secondary school."

School attendance, Guidance for maintained schools, academies, independent schools and local authorities, DfE 2022

"The pupils with the highest attainment at the end of key stage 2 and key stage 4 have higher rates of attendance over the key stage compared to those with the lowest attainment. At KS2, pupils not meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths had an overall absence rate of 4.7%, compared to 3.5% among those meeting the expected standard." Working together to improve school attendance, DfE May 2022

Going to school regularly is important for your child’s future. Parents are responsible for making sure their children receive full-time education. Talking to your child and their teachers could help solve any problems if your child does not want to go to school. 

Regular school attendance 

Walton-on-Trent Primary and Nursery Schools attendance target: 96%

Good attendance shows secondary schools and future potential employers that your child is reliable.

Walton-on-Trent Primary and Nursery School records details of all children’s attendance and absence at school. We must do so at the beginning of morning and afternoon sessions. If your child is absent, you must tell the school why immediately.

The school will record the absence; the Local Authority will receive this information for each child. The Department of Education also receives annual attendance data for the school.

Persistent absence

Children are classed as being persistently absent of their attendance is below 90%. Over a whole school year, this equates to missing 19 days over school over the year. However, missing fewer days than this earlier in the year may still mean your child is classed as persistently absent.

For example, children who have been absent for 7.5 days at the end of the Autumn Term would be classed as persistently absent as their attendance would be below 90%.

Your responsibilities as a parent

By law, all children of compulsory school age must receive a suitable full-time education. For most parents, this means registering their child at a school – though some choose to make other arrangements to provide a suitable, full-time education.

Once your child is registered at Walton-on-Trent Primary and Nursery School, parents are legally responsible for making sure their children attend on a regular basis.  If your child does not attend school on a regular basis you could be fined or be prosecuted in court.

How to prevent your child from missing school

You can help prevent your child missing school by:

• making sure they understand the importance of good attendance and punctuality
• taking an interest in their education – ask about school work and encourage them to get involved in school activities
• discussing any problems they may have at school and letting their teacher  know about anything serious
• not letting them take time off school for minor ailments – particularly those which would not prevent you from going to work

To avoid disrupting your child’s education, you should arrange appointments and outings:

• after school hours
• at weekends
• during school holidays
• You should not expect Walton-on-Trent Primary School to agree to your child going on holiday during term time.

Support on school attendance

A child’s school attendance can be affected if there are problems with:

• bullying
• housing or care arrangements
• transport to and from school
• work and money

If your child starts missing school, you might not know there is a problem.  When you find out, ask your child and then approach their teacher or the school attendance team (Miss Lane or Mrs Hinton).

Support from Walton-on-Trent Primary and Nursery School 

Mr Wildman (Strategic Attendance Lead ) and Mrs Hinton have very detailed overviews of attendance across all year groups in the school. If you as a parent feel you need additional support with your child's attendance at school, please get in contact and they can offer a range of support from he school. We as a school may contact you directly if we feel we could work together to provide additional support to improve your child's attendance.