ATTENDANCE - EVERY DAY COUNTS!

Being with school staff and their friends in a school environment is the best way for pupils to learn and reach their potential. We are committed to working together with families on attendance as we firmly believe that being at school every day is a really important part of succeeding in education and in life. Improving attendance is everyone's responsibility and we also collaborate closely as a local partnership of schools in promoting attendance and supporting families to identify and address challenges.

Attendance is important because:

• All children have the right to full time education and schools have a legal duty to ensure that they take up this right.
• Regular attendance and punctuality is absolutely vital to pupil achievement.
• Poor attendance impacts on children's mental health, including lower self-esteem and social skills leading to pupils becoming isolated from their friends. This may result in unsettled behaviour and increased anxiety which can lead to additional stress for parents.
• Positive attitudes towards attendance enable pupils to maximise their opportunities both in school and later in life.

Our full attendance policy is available by clicking on the link below:

There are 175 non-school days a year for family outings, shopping trips, routine dentist appointments and holidays.

Excellent school attendance is vital for children to be happy, healthy and successful therefore Wheatley CE Primary will not approve requests for leave during term time except in exceptional circumstances. These circumstances are rare, significant and unavoidable. Absence requests for any of the following will not be authorised:

• Holidays and trips (despite the educational and wellbeing benefits they can confer and the cheaper term-time prices)
• Family events, such as weddings, birthday celebrations and reunions
• Leisure or recreational activities
• Protest activities

The form below must be used to request a leave of absence due to exceptional circumstances: