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Attendance
Regular attendance is a fundamental pillar of education. It plays a pivotal role in shaping academic success, personal growth, and prospects.
Thrapston Primary School and Brooke Weston Trust are committed to transforming educational achievement and providing pupils with the best start in life academically and as citizens. We promote the importance of pupils attending school on every day possible and recognise that daily attendance is crucial to success.
It is the responsibility of all stakeholders across our academy community – parents/carers, staff, governors, and pupils – to work together to ensure that every pupil and their family has the support and strategies required to attend school daily.
You can find the Brooke Weston Trust Attendance and Punctuality Policy here, which provides helpful guidance to all stakeholders in maintaining positive attendance and punctuality across all Trust schools.
Pupils are expected to arrive at school for a 8.45am start. Any student who arrives after 8.45am will be recorded as late.
If your child arrives after the register has closed, this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence for that session unless evidence is supplied that the lateness was due to a medical appointment.
Persistent lateness is monitored and affects the overall attendance figure for each student.
We offer a paid breakfast club in the Hive from 7.45am and a free breakfast club in the hall from 8.15am.
Pupils arriving after 8.45am will be marked as late. If a pupil arrives at 9:20am or later, after the close of all registers, the sign-in code will constitute as an absence and negatively impact a pupil’s attendance record.
Arriving at school late is disruptive to a pupil’s daily routine and means that they lose a considerable amount of valuable learning time.
| Minutes late per day | Lost learning time |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 3.4 school days per year |
| 10 minutes | 6.9 school days per year |
| 15 minutes | 10.3 school days per year |
| 20 minutes | 13.8 school days per year |
| 30 minutes | 20.7 school days per year |
Parents/carers are expected to contact the school office to inform them of any absences on 01832 732512, this needs to be done on every morning of the absence.
Home visits are conducted as a standard protocol to families to follow-up on pupil absences and provide support to pupils and parents/carers where appropriate. Please note that visits may be pre-arranged or could be unannounced, dependent upon the circumstances.
The school has a duty to safeguard the welfare of all students. Any concerns about a child’s attendance will be investigated promptly to ensure support for their wellbeing.
If there are unexplained/prolonged periods of absence or an identified safeguarding concern, this may require school to contact external agencies.
Parents and carers must request any planned leave of absence for exceptional circumstances in writing prior to the intended absence of their child. Requests will be reviewed, and a decision made as to whether the absence will be authorised or unauthorised.
Leave during term time forms can be collected from the main office. Please ensure that these are completed as far in advance as possible to the planned leave.
In line with Department for Education (2024) regulations, holidays or absences for leisure and recreation would not constitute as exceptional circumstances.
As per the National Framework for Penalty Notices (2024), parents and carers may be issued with a fixed penalty notice or legal sanction if a pupil is absent due to unauthorised leave during term time.
Parents and carers are invited to contact the academy if they wish to discuss their child’s attendance further or seek additional support.
Our academy Attendance Lead is: Ms Stephanie Chambers
Our academy Senior Leader for Attendance is: Mrs Pauline Turner
Please contact us on 01832 732512 to initially speak with a member of our Pastoral Care Team.
Our Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) ensures comprehensive attendance intervention for all pupils. The system incorporates staff, children, parents and carers, and external agencies. This comprises of three Tiers:
- Tier 1 provides a universal offering to all pupils.
- Tier 2 involves early internal support and intervention.
- Tier 3 is higher levels of support for children, young people and families who require access to external agency support.
Our approach promotes recognition of personal and collective achievements, fostering positive environments and developing intrinsic motivation. Recognition may be in the form of verbal conversations; celebrations; postcards; or text message communication.
Through our rich curriculum offer, we strive to instill values within our pupils which support them to be come successful citizens of the future and promote that school attendance is a key component to this success.