Attendance

At Brookfield Park we are working hard to improve attendance in line with the governments guidance document published in August 2024 'Working together to improve school attendance'. It is more important than ever that all children to come to school, every day and arrive on time. There are so many reasons why it is important but the biggest one is that if they are not in school they are missing learning. We adopted an absence reporting platform called 'Study Bugs' which has been developed in conjunction with the NHS and will offer parents the most up to date advice and information about what you should do in the event that your child is unwell. It will also allow you to swiftly report an absence or medical appointment without the need to phone school. This will automatically connect with our school systems and put the information into your child's attendance record. It will also alert the class teacher and office staff straight away.

We operate a 'first day response policy' and will contact parents/carers should their child not attend where no reason has been given via the school office or Studybugs messenger. Any absences without valid reason will be recorded as unauthorised.

We are also continuing to introduce in some new ideas for rewarding good attendance and recognising children with exceptional attendance and punctuality. Alongside this we are making regular contact with parents/ carers whose child/ children's attendance has become of concern. In the first instance to offer support and work together to help identify and address the cause of the poor attendance. Wherever possible our ultimate aim is to support families to ensure children attend school everyday and on time. 

Holidays taken in term time will not be authorised for any reason other than those deemed exceptional and only then if the child's attendance record is not a cause for concern. For more information about our school policies and procedures see the policy below. Please be aware that

parents/carers taking pupils out of school for a holiday are likely to face a fixed penalty notice.

Where attendance falls below 95%, families are contacted and supported by our Learning Mentor, Mrs Latham. We also have many other measures in place. We use school systems regularly to track children's attendance and staff will alert our attendance team if they become concerned about a child's lateness or absence. The attendance team meet weekly to look at the attendance figures and will send out warning letters to parents when the attendance has fallen and is showing no signs of improving.

We need to stress that the following are not reasons for absence and will be recorded as unauthorised leaving parents risking a fine:

• cold/ wet weather
• child's birthday
• child too tired
• child doesn't want to come to school
• small injuries such as bruises or extremely small cuts
• family birthday
• a day out
• routine appointments which could and should be made out of term time (we look at this on a case by case basis as there are always exceptions to this including emergency appointments and appointments where you have no choice of date)

Please make every possible attempt to bring your child to school, but if you are having a problem for whatever reason getting your child to school, please phone us and we will try our best to help you. Ultimately we all want the same thing, for your child to be in school so that they can be gaining the best possible chances to reach their potential and secure a positive and successful future.