The school follows national and local guidance in declining to authorise absence for holidays.
Any parents/carers considering taking their child away from school must talk to the school directly and attend a meeting. Parents/carers who take their child on leave risk losing their child’s place at our school and could be subject to a penalty fine.

Attendance and Punctuality

Benson Community School aims to ensure that all children receive an education that maximises opportunities for each pupil to realise their full potential. Our target for attendance is 96% and above.

REMEMBER: EVERY SCHOOL DAY COUNTS!

Absence

Use good common sense when deciding whether your child needs to stay at home. Work on the basis that sick children belong at home and well children belong in school. Please remember that early morning aches and pains often pass, so don’t keep your child at home ‘just in case’ when they could be learning in class. If your child feels unwell at the start of the school day and then feels better later on in the morning, then please do bring your child into school. The less learning they miss the better. We will monitor them for you and will of course contact you if there is an issue.

Good Attendance

Having a good education will help to give your child the best possible start in life. We believe that children who do not attend school regularly are more likely to:-

* Fall behind in their school work

* Find it difficult to make and keep friends

* Be unhappy at school

* Become involved in antisocial behaviour

Setting good attendance patterns from an early age will also help your child later on. Employers want to recruit people who are reliable.

What is Good Attendance?

The Government’s target for school attendance is 96% and above. This is also the target for Benson Community School.

90% attendance might sound good enough but…

Aamina’s attendance is 90%. It means she is absent from school the equivalent of one half day every week. In one year that would equal 4 whole weeks absent from school. In 6 years in primary school she will miss over half a year of her education.

Please note, according to government guidelines, children with attendance below 90% are considered persistent absentees.

What Parents Can Do To Help

Ensure your child attends school every day and on time.

If your child is not well enough to attend contact the school on the first day of absence.

Try to make dental and medical appointments outside of school time or at weekends.

Take family holidays during the school holiday.

We are unable to authorise term time holidays.

Try to attend parents evenings and school events.

Talk to your child about school and take an interest in the work that they are doing.

Contact your child’s school immediately if you have any concerns about their progress or welfare.

School Attendance Initiatives

The minimum level of attendance for this school is 95% attendance and we will keep you updated regularly about progress to this level and how your child’s attendance compares.

Our target is to achieve better than this however because we know that good attendance is the key to successful schooling.

SPOTLIGHT

We continually monitor absences and punctuality to identify children whose absence is causing concern and to show us where improvements need to be made. If a child’s attendance becomes a cause for concern, then we will meet with parents to identify the reasons and work out how best we can support the child and parent in improving attendance.

SPOTLIGHT is a whole school initiative to improve attendance. This is a supportive but rigorous process to help parents ensure that their child attends school regularly. It involves parents attending meetings to discuss the problem and letters being sent out to advise them of the next step of the process.

Rewards and Incentives

We are always thinking of ideas for rewarding children with fantastic attendance and punctuality. Here are some of the things that we currently do.

* Children with 100% attendance each half term are awarded a certificate in Praise/Celebration Assembly.

* Children with 100% attendance for the whole academic year have a VIP experience day and enter a draw for a ‘tablet’.

* Classes with 100% attendance each week are awarded extra play time/golden time.

* Children with the most improved attendance and punctuality are given a certificate in Praise/Celebration Assembly.