Attendance

Attendance

The quality of teaching a child receives alongside their attendance are the biggest influencing factors on their future outcomes. Even small amounts of absence can impact negatively on progress because this creates a 'Swiss Cheese' effect on the curriculum experience, leaving small gaps in their knowledge. This creates unstable foundations from which to build and leads to often:

1. Weaker progress and attainment outcomes
2. An additional demand on school resources as adult time is diverted to try and 'plug' the gaps in knowledge that exist.
3. A detrimental impact on others in the class as time is being taken up to address mis-conceptions due to non-attendance rather than an identified learning difficulty.

We work hard at Easingwold Primary School to promote high attendance and reward children's efforts to attend well with trips to our local coffee shop. We publicise our attendance figures each week and alert parents to when attendance might be slipping. We also analyse our attendance data each half term and communicate concerns with parents in a timely and fair way. 

We know that ill health is the major reason for weaker attendance in many cases. Where this is a concern, providing school with an appointment card or hospital letter can help us to continue to authorise these absences.