At Dunchurch Boughton CofE Infant Academy and Nursery, we place great importance on regular attendance as we know that missing education has a really detrimental impact on the progress that children make.

Regular attendance is a vital part of a child's academic and social success. The academy seeks to ensure that all its pupils receive a full-time education to make the most of their opportunities to realise their full potential.  Staff work with pupils and their families to ensure each pupil attends regularly and punctually. We can help with advice and support if you are experiencing any issues around attendance and punctuality.

Children should be at the academy, on time, every day the academy is open, unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable. The academy has a legal duty to promote attendance and is required to publish attendance figures.

Every half-day absence from the academy has to be classified by the academy as either authorised or unauthorised.  Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from the academy for a good reason like illness or other unavoidable cause.  Unauthorised absences are those which the academy does not consider reasonable and for which no 'leave' has been given. This includes:
- Parents keeping children off unnecessarily, e.g. birthday trips and family days out
- Truancy before or during the academy day
- Absences which have never been properly explained
- Children who arrive at the academy too late to get a registration mark

Occasionally, a child may be reluctant to attend school. If there are problems with regular school attendance, it is best to work together as a team between the school attendance lead, family and the child. If a child is reluctant to attend, it is never better to cover up their absence or to give in to pressure to excuse them from attending. This gives the impression that attendance does not matter and may make things worse.

Punctuality

Being on time is important to your child's education. If a child is persistently late, they miss the start of lessons which may have a negative impact on their learning, confidence and self-esteem. Lateness disrupts your child, their class and the staff working with them.  School begins at 8.50, when the children come into the academy. Classroom doors close at 8.55, after which time children should enter through the academy office.

Being 5 minutes late every day will result in your child losing around three learning days a year.
Being 15 minutes late every day equates to having two complete weeks off a year.
Being 30 minutes late daily equates to losing nineteen learning days a year.

Persistent lateness can result in a penalty notice being issued, which carries a fine.

Sickness

If your child is absent through sickness or any unavoidable cause, please contact the academy by telephone (01788 810292) or email by 9.00am on the first day of absence. This will be an authorised absence.

Appointments of any kind, such as a doctor’s or dentist appointment, should be arranged outside of academy hours where possible.  If this is unavoidable, please let the academy office know by providing a copy of the appointment card or letter, and this will then be authorised.

Children returning to the academy after illness should clearly be fit to do so and free from any infection.

Attendance rewards

Most of our children have very good attendance in school, and we reward this in the following ways: 

• Celebration in the academy newsletter
• Class attendance awards

Term Time Holidays

Government guidance does not permit parents to take children on holidays during term time except under the most exceptional circumstances. Any requests for a leave of absence must be made via the Warwickshire leave of absence form which can be found at the bottom of this page.

If you do decide to take your child on a family holiday that has not been authorised, their absence will be recorded as 'unauthorised' and could result in a fine.

Academy Closure

Academy closures will only take place in the most extreme of circumstances. If a closure of the school is needed, this will be announced as soon as the information has been verified and becomes available via the following methods:

• Email and text alerts to the first contact listed on the data collection form / MCAS APP
• Class Dojo alerts

Our full Attendance Policy is available on our Policies page.