- admin@montpelier.ealing.sch.uk
- 020 8997 5855
Key contact information:
Name of senior leaders responsible for the strategic approach to attendance in school:
Mrs Bracken and Mrs Garofalo (attendance@montpelier.ealing.sch.uk)
Name of attendance officer to contact about attendance on a day to day basis and for more detailed support on attendance:
Mrs Eleftheriou (attendance@montpelier.ealing.sch.uk)
Named governor: Mrs E Glanz
Regular and punctual school attendance is important. Pupils need to attend school regularly if they are to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them by law. Montpelier Primary School fully recognises its responsibilities to ensure pupils are in school and on time, enabling them to have access to learning for the maximum number of days and hours. Managing attendance and punctuality takes a considerable amount of time and is costly. This means that funding that could be used to support teachers is being used for attendance and punctuality which is often avoidable.
This policy applies to all children registered at Montpelier. It is available to all parents/carers on
our school website and by hard copy on request.
This policy has been written to adhere to the relevant Children Acts, Education Acts, Regulations
and Guidance from the Department for Education in addition to guidance from the Local Authority.
The school works together with other professionals and agencies e.g. the School Attendance Officer to support and develop good habits.
Children who are absent from school, frequently fall behind and develop large gaps in their learning which impacts on their progress and their ability to meet age related learning expectations. A child whose attendance drops to 90% each year will, over their time at primary
school, have missed two whole terms of learning.
Please remember that absence for whatever reason disadvantages a child by creating gaps in his/her learning. A good understanding of learning and good progress can only take place when the child is in the classroom regularly and on time. We realise that there are rare, unavoidable occasions when there might be a particular problem that causes your child to be absent. Please let us know and we shall try to deal with it sympathetically.
Where there is no explanation for an absence or where the explanation or reason for the absence is considered unsatisfactory, the school will not be able to authorise the absences. These are known as “unauthorised absences”.
A child’s unauthorised absences are an offence for the parent. Examples of unauthorised absence are:
If a child’s absence is reported as an illness in the week prior to the end of term and/ or at the start of term the school may require medical evidence in order to authorise the absence.
Unauthorised Absences have to be reported to the Local Authority. The School Attendance Service inspects our registers and may contact you where unauthorised absence continues to be a problem. They will consider taking legal action against you if your child has unauthorised absences. Unauthorised absence could result in a Fixed Penalty Fine or other legal action.
Amendments to the 2006 attendance regulations make it clear that the Headteacher may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless in exceptional circumstances. An application can be made if there are exceptional (and documented) circumstances. Parents sometimes confuse telling the school as being good enough, this is not so, you will need explicit permission from the school for any leave.
Some children/classes will be re-grouped for targeted learning/catch up. The curriculum is designed to be progressive, new topics are often introduced at the start of the week and the majority of teaching takes place during the morning. (Each day’s learning builds on the day before.)
Please collect your child promptly at the end of the school day or from any after school activity. Where the late collection is persistent and/or significantly late, the school is obliged to take any uncollected pupil to a place of safety and to share concerns with other agencies including the Ealing Children’s Integrated Response Service (formally Social Services).
The school will place a child into the after school club and the parent/carer will be charged the full amount for the first hour. Beyond this, children may be referred to Ealing Police Station or Ealing Children’s Integrated Response Service in the event that a suitable arrangement cannot be made with the parent/carer.
If your child is leaving our school (other than to go to High School) parents are asked to give the school comprehensive information; about their new address, plans, including any date of a move, telephone numbers, the child’s new school and the start date when known. This should be submitted to our school in writing. If you are not sure of the details of your move, please let us know as soon as possible, but please fill in the leaving school form as fully as you can before you leave.
When pupils leave and we do not have information, about where they have gone, then your child is considered to be a ‘Child Missing Education’. This means that the Local Authority has a legal duty to carry out investigations, which will include liaising with Ealing Children’s Integrated Response Service the Police and other agencies, to try and locate your child. By giving us the above information, these investigations can be avoided.
Policy updated: Autumn 2022
To be reviewed: Autumn 2023