Attendance
Good attendance at school (over 96%) is a fundamental part of your child’s education. Poor attendance impacts significantly on progress, learning, friendship groups and the child’s overall happiness at school.
As poor attendance at school is seen as an indicator for neglect, the school has a duty to work with social services and the educational welfare service to ensure families support attendance.
For those who fall below the 96% target for attendance, parents and carers can expect the school to consider further action that could include social services involvement, penalty notices, court proceedings and fines.
If you are having difficulties with your child’s attendance, please contact the school as soon as possible so that we can work together to resolve the issue. If you would prefer to speak to a member of staff the school office is open from 8:00am to 4:30pm.
Our Attendance Officer is available to meet parents and carers every morning.
Report a pupil absence
If your child is absent from school please contact the school office as early as possible on the first morning of absence. Parents and carers can leave a voicemail message at any time. Please remember to state your child’s full name and the reason for absence when leaving a message.
Parents and carers can also report absences by emailing Attendance@thornhillsch.net or via the MCAS app.
The apps mentioned above can be downloaded free of charge and are available for Apple, Android and Windows devices.
Punctuality
Punctuality is very important and late arrivals are recorded and monitored with similar follow up activities for children with poor attendance.
If your child arrives at school late they must report to the school office to be added to the register.
The school day
The school day begins at 8.50am (soft opening from 8.40am) and finishes as 3.10pm.
When the playground doors open at 8.40am children can quietly and sensibly walk into the school building, giving them time to get organised for their learning and have the opportunity to talk to their friends and teacher.
A teacher or teaching assistant from the year group will be there to greet children at the door.
At the end of the day teachers escort the children to the appropriate outside door. Children will be told not to leave until the adult they are expecting collects them.
Parents and carers must notify the Class Teacher or school office before 2.30pm if someone else is collecting their child.
What can happen to parents/carers if children do not attend school regularly?
If we are not satisfied with the reason given for absence, we may not authorise it. If your child has more than 10 unauthorised absences in any 8 week period we can issue a fixed penalty notice warning and alert Southampton City Council.
Rewards
We reward good attendance in a number of different ways. Our attendance league awards points for the top 3 whole class attendance percentages each week. Look out for a yellow sticker on a Monday denoting that your child’s class was this week’s winner. The class with the most points at the end of the half term wins a trip to Mrs Allen’s ice cream parlour. The league resets every half term so there is plenty of chance for a win.
Mrs Allen awards certificates to children (and parents!) who have worked hard to improve their attendance.
If your children miss school regularly or if we are concerned about the reasons given for the absences, we will write to you or invite you in for a meeting with your child’s class teacher, Mrs Allen or Mrs Carroll. We are determined to improve attendance at Thornhill Primary School to give children the very best chance in life and so we will also make referrals to The Education Welfare Service at Southampton City Council and/or request Fixed Penalty Notices be issued.
Should you wish to put in a request for a leave of absence in term time, please download a leave of absence request form below or request a form from the school office.
