Attendance processes

Please see the OAK Trust Attendance policy for more information: OAK Academies Trust – Policies (oaktrust.org) 

At Overdale Junior School, we strongly believe that every school day counts towards a child’s academic life and achievement. A missed school day is not only a lost opportunity for our students to learn, but also essential time missed to develop socially and emotionally. We love to see happy faces as our pupils arrive at school on time and ready to learn. Children who do not get to school on time or who miss days of school unfortunately miss out on very important learning time.

Overdale Junior School recognising the benefits of good attendance and as such – we promote good attendance at school. We believe that in order to facilitate teaching and learning with maximum impact, regular attendance at school is essential. We recognise that the children in our school cannot achieve their full potential if they do not regularly attend school.
Overdale Junior School understands that barriers to attendance are complex and that some pupils may find it more difficult than others to attend school. We are committed, however, to cultivating a safe and supportive environment, as well as the types of strong and trusting relationships required with pupils and parents that will allow us to support our young people to attend school.

As a consequence, Overdale Junior School takes a whole-school approach to securing good attendance, and recognise the impact that our efforts in other areas – such as the curriculum, behaviour standards, bullying, SEND support, pastoral support, and the effective use of resources such as pupil premium – can have on improving pupil attendance.
We would like to thank all of our parents and carers for their commitment to securing their child’s attendance.

We would like to thank all of our parents and carers for their commitment to securing their child’s attendance.

We would like to thank our parents for their commitment to their child’s attendance.

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We are committed to:
– Promoting and modelling high attendance and its benefits.
– Ensuring equality and fairness for all.
– Ensuring this attendance policy is clear and easily understood by staff, pupils and parents.
– Intervening early and working with other agencies to ensure the health and safety of our pupils.
– Building strong relationships with families to overcome barriers to attendance.
– Working collaboratively with other schools in the area, as well as other agencies.
– Ensuring parents follow the framework set in section 7 of the Education Act 1996, which states that the parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause them to receive efficient full-time education suitable to their age, ability and aptitude, and to any SEND they may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.
– Ensuring our attendance policy is clear and easily understood by all staff, parents and pupils.
– Regularly monitoring and analysing attendance and absence data to identify pupils or cohorts that require more support.

The vast majority of parents ensure that their child attends regularly and on time, meeting the OAK MAT Trust expectation of at least 96% attendance.

We love to see happy faces as our pupils arrive at school on time, ready to learn.  Children who do not get to school on time or miss days of school miss learning time.

New guidelines have been released by the government with regards to school attendance; Overdale Junior School will be adhering to this guidance.

This information can be found here:

 

Working Together To Improve School Attendance

Summary Table Of Responsibilities For School Attendance

Attendance Escalation

Attendance Contract

Attendance Action Plan

What does the school day look like?

The school day

The school day for our children starts at 8:50am. The children should arrive at school no earlier than 8:45am.

School finishes at 3:20pm and children should be collected at this time from the playground.

This amounts to 32 and a half hours each week.

If your child is ill:

We know that sometimes your child may be unable to attend because they feel unwell. 

At school we use NHS guidance to advise regarding childhood illnesses, and to help us judge whether a child is well enough to be at school. This information can be viewed using the following useful link for parents:

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

All absences should be reported to the school, verbally or through the absences email (listed below) between 8:00am and 9:00am, but must be reported by 9.30am on the first day of absence, and each day of an extended period of absence.  The Admin staff will telephone or text any unreported absences after 9.30am to ensure the child is safe and with a responsible adult.

School telephone: 0116 288 3736

School Email: admin@overdale-jun.leicester.sch.uk

School absences email: absences@overdale-jun.leicester.sch.uk

Please state subject: Absence from school

Absence due to illness

If your child is ill and unable to attend school, please remember to telephone the office so that their teacher can be informed.

Medical appointments

We recognise that it can be difficult to arrange hospital and doctors’ appointments outside school hours, so medical appointments during the school day are permissible.  However, please remember to advise the school about any appointments your child has and do try to schedule appointments outside of school time wherever possible to avoid disruption for your child.

Illnesses

When a child is unwell, it can be hard deciding whether to keep them off school for parents. These simple guidelines taken from the NHS website should help. Click here to go straight to it.

Not every illness needs a child to stay away from school. If a child is kept away from school, parents must inform the school on the first day of their absence.

Common sense needs to be used when deciding whether or not a child is too ill to attend school.

Children unwell whilst at school 

Occasionally, pupils are unwell at school. Our policy is to assess each case separately. We will only send children home if they are deemed unwell enough to be at school. If a child can be cared for in class or with another adult, they will stay at school until the end of the day. However, there are times when it is best that children go home as they are unwell or need to rest.

Common conditions

If a child is ill, it’s likely to be due to one of a few minor health conditions. (see below)

Cough and cold

A child with a minor cough or cold may attend school. If the cold is accompanied by a raised temperature, shivers or drowsiness, the child should stay off school, visit the GP and return to school 24 hours after they start to feel better. If a child has a more severe and long-lasting cough, they should go to a  GP. They can give guidance on whether your child should stay off school.

Raised temperature

If a child has a particularly high temperature, they shouldn’t attend school. They can return 24 hours after they start to feel better.

Rash

Skin rashes can be the first sign of many infectious illnesses, such as chickenpox and measles. Children with these conditions shouldn’t attend school. If a child has a rash, check with a GP or practice nurse before sending them to school.

Headache

A child with a minor headache doesn’t usually need to be kept off school. If the headache is more severe or is accompanied by other symptoms, such as raised temperature or drowsiness, then the child should be kept off school and a GP consulted.

Vomiting and diarrhoea

Children with diarrhoea and/or vomiting must be kept off school until at least 48 hours after their symptoms have gone. Most cases of diarrhoea and vomiting in children get better without treatment, but if symptoms persist, consult a GP.

Sore throat

A sore throat alone doesn’t have to keep a child from school. But if it’s accompanied by a raised temperature, your child should stay at home.

Chickenpox

If a child has chickenpox, they must be kept off school until all their spots have crusted over.

Click Here To Go To Public Health England’s Latest Advice

Other Reasons for Absence

The vast majority of our parents recognise that their children are most happy and successful when in school and when they attend regularly.

Government guidelines issued in September 2013, ensure that parents have no entitlement to take their child on a holiday during term time. All requests for leave during term time must be made in advance and will be considered on an individual basis and will only be authorised if the Executive Headteacher or Head of School considers there are exceptional circumstances. Additional evidence may be requested by the school to support these requests.

Unauthorised Absences

If your child is absent, and we have not been notified as to why (see above for notification procedure), we will:

  • E-mail or telephone you on the first day of absence (and on subsequent days) until an explanation is provided.
  • Write to you if we are concerned about your child’s attendance or an emerging pattern of high level absence.
  • Invite you into school to discuss the ways that school can further support you. This conversation will be with our Head of School, Pastoral Lead and/or the Educational Welfare Officer as appropriate.

In the unlikely event that you want to ask for your child’s absence to be authorised due to an exceptional circumstance, a leave of absence form should be collected from the school office and the request must be put in writing and addressed to the Head of School.

If there is any other reason why you or your child are finding it difficult to attend school regularly and on time, then please do contact Miss Preston, our Pastoral Lead, who will be happy to work with you to develop a support plan.  Seeking early help, regardless of the issue, can help you to avoid any unnecessary fines for non-attendance.

Leaving OJS

If your child is leaving the school please ensure that the notification form below is completed returned to the main reception before your child leaves.

Penalty Notice Information

OJS Child Leaving Notification