Attendance is very important at Engaines. We want to ensure all children have access to the best possible chance of success as they progress through the school and into secondary education.
It is important that we have direct communication from parents or carers to explain an absence. We cannot accept a child’s explanation.
Please make every effort to keep in touch. You can email or call the office to explain an absence. If we don’t hear from you we will get in touch. If no reason for absence has been given, you will be contacted promptly by the office or attendance lead and it may be followed up by the school’s Education Welfare Officer.
The email address is absence@engaines.essex.sch.uk
Engaines Attendance Policy 2022/2024
The importance of regular attendance
- Provides your child the best possible start in life.
- They will be able to keep up with their work and not form gaps in their learning.
- They will achieve better results.
- They will develop friendships and social skills.
Attendance matters
The school has established an effective system of incentives and rewards that acknowledges the efforts of pupils to improve their attendance and timekeeping and will challenge the behaviour of those pupils and parents who give low priority to attendance and punctuality.
The Engaines whole school target is 96% which is in line with the Government's national expectation
Children feeling unwell
Children can’t help being sick and sometimes they have an illness that will require time off school and a visit to the doctors. However, taking regular one or two days off soon adds up! Sometimes our children have coughs and colds and may not feel their normal self but they are probably well enough for school.
If a child has a minor illness (e.g. a headache, cold or a sore throat etc.), we ask that Parents/Carers bring them into school and inform staff that their child is feeling unwell. School will always contact Parents/Carers if a child’s condition worsens or if they become poorly during the school day. Please see the link below for the official guidance from the NHS regarding illnesses and whether time off school is advised.
Please ensure you call into the school by 9am if your child is going to be off school. The school will ask you to provide medical evidence for the illness you are reporting.
The Education Act 1996 states that all pupils should attend school regularly and punctually.
‘If a child of compulsory school age, who is a registered pupil at a school fails to attend regularly at the school, his parent is guilty of an offence.’
Punctuality & Lateness
Persistent lateness can:
- Cause embarrassment to the child.
- Make it harder for the child to settle.
- Cause disruption to the rest of the class.
School Gates open at 8.35am and the school day begins at 8.45am.
Children arriving after 9.00am will be marked as Late and unauthorised after 9.30am
The school operates a First Day Response and will telephone families where children have failed to attend school in time for morning registration.
Leave of Absence Procedures
As detailed in our Attendance Policy, and in line with DfE guidance, we do not authorise leave of absence during term, other than when exceptional circumstances permit. If you wish to take your child out of school, during term time, it is important that you complete the request form for the school to consider.
However, where absence is unauthorised, it could lead to further action being taken including a penalty notice being issued.
Department for Education information regarding this is available by clicking here.