Axminster Community
Primary Academy
Inspiring Excellence: Attendance
Good attendance is essential for delivering our vision of 'achievement for all'. Please read our attendance principles and see some links to useful parent information below.
- Is my child too ill for school?
- How long should I keep my child off school?Working together to improve attendance
We have signed Devon's Attendance Charter and are committed to working with our partners to ensure that all children are able to attend school regularly.
If your child is going to be absent or late
- Telephone: 01297 33005 (before 08.40 whenever possible)
- Or send an email before 08.40 with the reason for the absence.
- State full reason, e.g. temperature, sickness, severe cold.
- Avoid vague reasons such as ‘ill’, or ‘under the weather’.
We have a 48 hour rule for any sickness/diarrhoea to try to prevent any outbreaks. Please ensure that if your child has suffered with either of these, they remain absent from school for a clear 48 hour period from the last attack.
If a child is absent without explanation - first day contact process
- All registers will be checked by 9:30am
- All of the missing child's contacts will be telephoned until we have a response
- An email will also be sent
- A welfare check of the house may be conducted
- The police or multi-agency safeguarding hub may be called
Lateness
The class register opens at 9am and closes at 9.15am. If your child arrives after the register has started at 9am but before it has closed at 9.15am they will be coded as late (L). If they arrive after 9.15am they will be coded as arriving unacceptably late - after the register has closed - (U) which is an unauthorised absence.
Absence Requests
If your child needs to be away from school, for any reason, please complete an absence request form (S2) or bring in a copy of the medical appointment letter/card. Wherever possible, please ensure you give the school at least 2 weeks' notice. Holiday requests will not be authorised and may be reported to Devon County Council (in accordance with Government guidelines), which may result in a penalty notice.
Research shows that good attendance in school correlates to the educational achievements of children. Official research by the DfE shows, in general, the higher the percentage of sessions missed across the Key Stage, the lower the likely level of attainment at the end of Key Stage 2. In particular, pupils with no absence are 1.6 times more likely to achieve Age Related Expectations or above, and 4.7 times more likely to achieve above Age Related Expectations than pupils that missed 15-20% of all sessions.
Further information can also be found by viewing our Pupil Attendance Policy on the First Federation Trust Website.