Attendance
Westmeads Community Infant School is very proud of its good attendance.
Well done everyone!
Information on Attendance
Changes to term time leave of absence
Please be aware that amendments have been made to the 2013 regulations in the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2022. These amendments, as described below, came into force on 1st September 2022.
The educations regulations from 2006 allowed head teachers to grant leave of absence for the purpose of a family holiday during term time for up to 10 days school leave per year. However this is no longer the case.
The amendments make clear that head teachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Any absence requests for ‘exceptional circumstances’ must be put in writing including specific dates and details of the exceptional circumstances, and addressed to the head teacher for approval. Exceptional circumstances include absence recommended by a medical practitioner, a religious observance or an event that cannot in anyway be taken during school holidays.
Attendance and punctuality
Learning begins the moment children enter Westmeads. Therefore it is essential that children attend school on time. Late arrival can set make your child become unsettled and give them a difficult start to their day. The information below shows the impact of being late or absent. As you can see, it adds up to an alarming figure.
Lateness = lost learning
Lateness Days lost (approx.)
5 minutes 3 days
10 minutes 6.5 days
15 minutes 10 days
20 minutes 13 days
30 minutes 19 days
Every school day counts!
Attendance School days Equivalent weeks absence
100% 190 0
95% 180 2
90% 171 4
85% 161 6
80% 152 More than 7 weeks
75% 143 More than 9 weeks
Only 19 days lost (90% attendance) over a year can significantly reduce your child’s progress and achievement at school. Where possible, please ensure that your child attends school every day!
As you may be aware, the Government's aim is to reduce the absence of children from school. We support this policy as it is important that children miss as little schooling as possible to ensure their best progress. As part of the government scheme, we are required to reduce the absences of children, both authorised and unauthorised.
Therefore, in line with many other schools, we use a computerised package to help us keep accurate records of illness and late arrivals.
To enable us to complete the information accurately, it will be necessary for you to report all absences to the school including details of medical/dental appointments.
So, if your child is absent for any reason it is important to inform the school as soon as possible and you may be asked to fill in a leave of absence request form with supporting documents. If your child is ill, a telephone call to the office on the first day of absence is required, this will be noted and passed to the class teacher.
Late arrivals will be noted in the register, and parents will be required to give full details including the reason for the late arrival. Children arriving late without an appropriate reason will be marked as an unauthorised absence.
Whilst we do not expect children to come to school when ill, we do expect to see them before and after a medical appointment, i.e. there is no reason for them to be kept at home for the whole day if they have a dental appointment at 11 a.m. All medical appointments should be made with every effort outside of the school day as per the DfE guidance.
Close monitoring of attendance and lateness is embedded; individual parents will be invited to discuss any difficulties with Ms White or Miss Elms, our Family Liaison officer.
Thank you very much for your support.