Attendance

ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY

At Grove Park we are committed to every child reaching their full potential and therefore we follow all guidance from the Department for Education (DFE) with regard to school attendance. We also work closely with the Local Authority and Hounslow’s School Attendance Support Service (SASS) to ensure we are doing all we can to help all children to benefit from their education as fully as possible. We also recognise that attendance is a key part of our commitment to safeguarding and child protection.

Grove Park’s opening and closing times are 8:50am to 3:20pm. This is a total of 32 hours and 30 minutes per week.

BENEFITS OF GOOD ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY

Regular attendance and punctuality are important if children are to take part fully in the life of the school and take advantage of the learning opportunities on offer. We recognise that attending school regularly and punctually is vital to the educational process and encourages a good pattern of work.

Good attendance is important because:

Statistics show a direct link between under-achievement and poor attendance
Regular attenders make better progress, both socially and academically
Regular attenders find school routines and work easier to adapt to and manage
Regular attenders find learning more satisfying
Regular attenders have an easier transfer to each new key stage and secondary school

WE ASK PARENTS AND CARERS TO:

Ensure their child/children attends school regularly and on time.
Phone the school on the first day of non-attendance by 8:30am. If there is no answer, please leave a voicemail. It is important that you provide details of your child’s illness.
Contact school on each subsequent day of non-attendance.
Avoid making medical and dental appointments during school hours where possible.
Not book holidays, trips or events during term time.
Work with the school to meet any attendance targets that are set to help improve attendance.

COLLECTION

3:20pm end of school day (Gates open for parents at 3:15pm)

PUNCTUALITY

Being late for school causes disruption to your child’s learning and the other children in the class. It is of extreme importance therefore that all children arrive at school on time.

We have adopted a soft start approach to the start of the day and children are able to come into the classroom anytime from 8:40am to 8:50am. The school day starts at 8:50am when a bell is rung in the playground, and the registers are taken.

If a child arrives after 8:50am, but before 9:20am

This will be recorded as a late arrival.

The child’s name, class and time of arrival including the number of minutes late will be recorded by the office.

If a child arrives after 9:20am

This will be recorded as an absence.

If a child arrives after 8:50am the playground gates are closed so you will need to use the main entrance where they will be registered by the office.

ADDRESSING PUNCTUALITY CONCERNS

If a child starts to develop a regular pattern of lateness, the class teacher will make verbal contact with the parent (in the playground after school or by phone) and alert the Attendance Lead to see if there are any issues which school can support with.

TERM TIME LEAVE

We would ask you to seriously consider taking your child out of school during term time. Term time leave may only be authorised at the discretion of the Headteacher in exceptional circumstances. Term time leave request forms are available from the school office or alternatively print a form here.