Mrs S Watson, our Deputy Headteacher, is our Designated Attendance Lead.

Our school target is 97% attendance.

View our Attendance Policy on our Policies page

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Regular attendance at school is vital to help children achieve and get the best possible start in life. We encourage and celebrate good attendance.

Children who frequently miss school often fall behind. There is a strong link between good school attendance and achieving good results. Good attendance at school shows potential employers that a young person is reliable.

All schools in Liverpool are responsible for keeping accurate records of pupil attendance. The Attendance policy can be found here. The key document “Working together to Improve School Attendance” can be found here.

Please note that in, accordance with Local Authority guidelines, all holiday absence is treated as unauthorised absence and will be recorded as such. Requests for leave can only be granted by schools if there are exceptional circumstances, and holidays are not considered exceptional. Requests for leave must also be made to the school in advance, as the Department for Education has told schools that they cannot authorise any absences after they have been taken.

Parents can support regular school attendance by:

• Making sure their child leaves for school early enough to arrive at school on time
• Supporting and encouraging their child by attending parent’s evenings and other events
• Contacting the school to discuss any concerns regarding their child’s attendance
• Working in partnership with the school to resolve any issues that are impacting on their child’s attendance
• Making any medical appointments outside of school hours whenever possible
• Not taking children out of school for holidays in term time or for other unnecessary reasons

At Risk of Persistent Absence

Children whose attendance figure falls below 93% are regarded as being at risk of persistent absence, as classed by the Department for Education.

Persistent Absence

Children whose attendance figure falls below 90% are regarded as having persistent absence, as classed by the Department for Education.

Severe Absence

Children whose attendance figure falls below 50% are regarded as being severely absent absence, as classed by the Department for Education.

In order to support in improving attendance, we take a proactive approach and will communicate concerns about poor attendance to parents and carers. At St. Oswald’s we use an escalating approach which includes letters, meetings in school and / or a referral to the Education Welfare Service.

Children who are too ill to come to school or may pass infection to others should not attend school for 48 hours from the last time they were sick.

When children are absent from school, it is the parents’ responsibility to inform the school office by 9.00am with the reason for absence. We will contact parents if we don’t hear from you.

Reporting a child’s absence can be done in two ways:

• By ringing the school on 0151 2288436 between 8am and 9am, and selecting option 1 (report a pupil absence)
• By emailing the school to report an absence on office@st-oswalds.liverpool.sch.uk

The school office monitors attendance and punctuality every day, should you have any concerns about your child’s attendance please speak to class teacher or our FLO’s Ms Mahon and Mrs Finch, please telephone school for an appointment.

Planned absences for medical appointments, holidays, special family events etc must be requested prior to the absence (we ask for 2-weeks if possible) by completing the paper forms which are held in the school office.

School Holiday Dates

The School Governing Body, under the guidance of the Local Authority, decide school holiday dates for our school. These are published for parents/carers at the start of every school year and in the summer term prior to the new school year. They are displayed on our school website and a paper copy can also be obtained from the school office.

Roles and Responsibilities of Governors, Headteacher and Other School Staff

The Governors will ensure that:

• school holiday dates for each academic year are agreed by the start of the summer term in the previous school year;
• a full consultation takes place if the main school session times are to be changed;
• any changes to the start or end of the school day are implemented at the start of a new school year;
• attendance targets are set each year;
• weekly levels of lesson time, excluding collective worship, registration and breaks meet recommended levels.

The Headteacher will ensure that:

• pupils are registered accurately and efficiently;
• parents/carers are contacted when reasons for absence are unknown or unauthorised;
• pupil attendance and punctuality are monitored regularly;
• a reward system for attendance and punctuality is implemented;
• school attendance statistics are reported to the Educational Welfare Officer and Governing Body;
• parents/carers are written to when attendance and/or punctuality is poor;
• where there are cases of persistent poor attendance and/or punctuality rates, these are referred to the LA Attendance Officer;
• parent/carers receive an attendance report with the Summer end of year reports.

Teaching staff will ensure that:

• they register children accurately and efficiently;
• they inform the headteacher of any children who are persistently late, have low attendance levels or have unexplained absence;
• they encourage children to attend school regularly and inform the headteacher if they become aware of a problem that may lead to absences.

Parents/carers will be expected to:

• ensure that their child(ren) attends school regularly;
• ensure that their child(ren) arrives at school on time and is picked up promptly at the end of the school day;
• inform school on the first day of non-attendance;
• avoid taking family holidays during term time;
• inform the school in advance of any planned absence.

Arrangements for monitoring and evaluation

The Governing Body will receive a termly attendance report from the headteacher including:

• the rate of attendance for the school, including rates for specific groups of pupils (e.g. SEN);
• comparison of attendance compared with the agreed target and previous year’s rates;
• additional background information relevant to the attendance rate in school.

The headteacher and the Governing Body will evaluate the data and decide what, if any, further action is required.

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The government has launched a new national campaign to remind parents and carers of the importance of school attendance.

We regularly remind you of the importance of good punctuality and attendance and the negative impact poor attendance has on your child’s educational attainment and social and emotional development.

The link between attendance and attainment is clear:

• In 2018/19, just 40% of persistently absent (PA) children in KS2 achieved expected KS2 standards, compared with 84% of pupils who were regular attenders.

But attendance is important for more than just attainment:

• Regular school attendance can facilitate positive peer relationships, which is a protective factor for mental health and wellbeing.

The NHS and the Chief Medical Officer say it is usually appropriate for parents and carers to send their children to school with mild respiratory illnesses, including general cold symptoms like a minor cough or a runny nose.

If you are unsure if your child is too ill for school, please follow the link below and use the NHS guidelines:

External Link: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

From the first day of term to the last, the small moments in a school day make a real difference to your child. #AttendanceCounts so please ensure your child attends school regularly.

Thank you for your support in helping our pupils to reach their potential this term.

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Year 1 class 1JC won the attendance award for having the best attendance during the Autumn term. As part of winning the attendance award, 1JC were very lucky to receive some attendance money that they could use to reward themselves with a special treat. 1JC decided that they would like to use the reward to bring an ice cream van to school. The children loved seeing the ice cream van and the ice cream was very tasty! 1JC are working extra hard this term to come to school everyday so that they can try and win the attendance award again.

“I loved seeing the ice cream van” – Chloe
“The ice cream was so good and very tasty” – Finnley
“We sat in class eating ice cream!”- David
“We want to win again so the ice cream van can come back” – Amelia