At St Laurence’s Church of England Primary School we place great importance on regular attendance at the academy as we know that missing education has a really detrimental impact on the progress that children make.

Regular attendance is a vital part of a child's academic and social success. The academy seeks to ensure that all its pupils receive a full-time education to make the most of their opportunities to realise their full potential. 

Staff work with pupils and their families to ensure each pupil attends regularly and punctually. We can help with advice and support if you are experiencing any issues around attendance and punctuality.

Children should be at the academy, on time, every day the academy is open, unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable. Permitting absence without a good reason is an offence by the parent. The academy has a legal duty to promote attendance and is required to publish attendance figures. We will also contact you and your other contacts if your child is not in school and we have not been informed why they are running late or absent.

Every half-day absence from the academy has to be classified by the academy, (not by the parents), as either AUTHORISED or UNAUTHORISED.  Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from the academy for a good reason like illness or other unavoidable cause.  Unauthorised absences are those which the academy does not consider reasonable and for which no 'leave' has been given. This includes:
- Parents keeping children off unnecessarily, eg. shopping trips
- Truancy before or during the academy day
- Absences which have never been properly explained
- Children who arrive at the academy too late to get a mark

Occasionally a child may be reluctant to attend the academy. Any problems with regular attendance are best sorted out between the academy, the parents and the child. If a child is reluctant to attend, it is never better to cover up their absence or to give in to pressure to excuse them from attending. This gives the impression that attendance does not matter and may make things worse.

Punctuality
Being on time is important to your child's education. If a child is persistently late, they miss the start of lessons which may have a negative impact on their learning, confidence and self-esteem. Lateness disrupts your child, their class and the staff working with them.  School begins at 8:50, when the children come into the academy. Classroom doors open at 8:40 and close at 8:50, after which time children should enter through the main office.

Being 5 minutes late every day will result in your child losing around three learning days a year.
Being 15 minutes late every day equates to having two complete weeks off a year.
Being 30 minutes late daily equates to losing nineteen learning days a year.

Persistent lateness can result in a penalty notice being issued, which carries a fine.

Sickness

If your child is absent through sickness or any unavoidable cause, please contact the academy by telephone by 8:30am on the first day of absence and each subsequent day.

Appointments of any kind, such as a doctor’s or dentist appointment, should be arranged outside of academy hours where possible.  If this is unavoidable, please let the academy office know as soon as possible and provide the evidence of appointment to have this time off authorised.

Children returning to the academy after illness should clearly be fit to do so and free from any infection.

Term Time Holidays

Government guidance does not permit parents to take children on holidays during term time except under the most exceptional circumstances.

If you do decide to take your child on a family holiday that has not been authorised, their absence will be recorded as 'unauthorised' and could result in prosecution and a fine.

Exceptional Leave 

If you are taking your child out of school during term time, you must complete an exceptional leave of absence during term-time form. This can be for a variety of reasons including: religious occasions, funerals, holidays and visa appointments. You can find a digital copy of this form at the top of this page or you can collect a paper copy from the school office. 

Attendance rewards

Most of our children have very good attendance and we reward this in the following ways:

• Weekly certificates for the highest attendance in KS1 and KS2

• Termly awards for 100% attendance.

Academy Closure

Academy closures will be announced as soon as the information has been verified and become available via the following methods:

• Academy website

• Newsletters

• School comms parent text

• Coventry City Council snow line

• Local Coventry Radio

Our full Attendance Policy is available on our Policies page here.