Attendance

Our school firmly believes that good attendance is very closely linked to good attainment, good behaviour and settled, happy children.

The national average attendance level is 95%. 

Oxton St Saviour's annual attendance 2022/23 is 96%

Regular school attendance is vital to raising standards in education and to improving the life chances of all children.

Regular attendance at school enables children to gain maximum benefit from the range of educational and wider opportunities available to them so that they achieve their full potential.

Regular attendance supports children to develop their communication skills and social skills with both adults and children.  will inform you of your child(ren)'s attendance percentage each term as part of their school report.

At Oxton St Saviour's we aim for as close to 100% as possible. 

Reporting

We carefully monitor the attendance of all of the children. We are required, by law, to record the attendance of every child on roll and to show who is absent or late. Figures for attendance and for authorised absence and unauthorised absence have to be sent to Wirral Borough Council (Local Authority) and the Department for Education (UK Government).

It is really important for your child to attend school regularly.

If your child is unable to attend school

We understand that children do become unwell and there are times when home is the best place for your child so that they can fully recover.  If your child cannot attend school, please contact the school office as soon as possible on the first day of their absence. This can be through a telephone call (0151 652 4909) or our school office email address schooloffice@oxtonstsaviours.wirral.sch.uk.

If parents fail to contact school to confirm their childs attendance,  we are obliged to record the absence as unauthorised. If we do not hear from you, our office staff will call you to ask you where your child is as part of our Safeguarding procedures. 

Punctuality

It is very important that your child arrives to school on time everyday. The school gates to the playground open at 8:30am, the whistle will be blown at 8:40am by a member of staff and the children can make their way into school. Lessons in all classes start at 8:45am. The school gates will be locked at 8:50am.

If there is a reason why your child will be late for school please contact the school as soon as possible. If your child arrives late then they will need to enter through the main office and a reason for lateness will need to be recorded. If the registers have closed a late mark will be recorded. 

It is very important to get children into good routines to develop good habits for life. Being punctual is very important and helps the day to get off to a good start. The first 10 minutes of the day are really important and are spent meeting and greeting the children, catching up with any issues/questions from the day before, talking through the daily timetable and beginning the morning challenge. If children consistently miss this part of the day, it can be very unsettling for them. Please support your child to be punctual for school every day as over time lost minutes make up lost learning time.

Lateness = Lost Learning 

5 minutes late each day =  3 days lost over the year

10 minutes late each day = 6.5 days lost over the year

15 minutes late each day = 10 days lost over the year 

20 minutes late each day = 13 days lost over the year

Leave of Absence in Term Time:

As of 1st September 2013, there is no entitlement for Parents/Carers to withdraw their child for authorised eave of absence in term time. Headteachers can only grant leave of absence during term time if there are exceptional circumstances surrounding the request and parents have made an application in advance. If the Headteacher is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances to warrant the granting of leave of absence, the Headteacher will then determine the number of school days a child can be away from school. 

The principles for defining exceptional are rare, significant, unavoidable and short, with unavoidable meaning an event that could not reasonably be scheduled at another time. 

Taking leave of absence in term time DOES AFFECT a child's educational progress and Parents/Carers are strongly discouraged from withdrawing their child from school during term time. .

In each School Year (September - July) there are only a maximum of 190 statutory school days. This allows plenty of time for holidays to be arranged outside term time. Holidays taken during term time that do not meet exceptional circumstances will be categorised as an unauthorised absence.

Education Penalty Notices:

The Local Authority issues Education Penalty Notices (EPN) by post. Payment of an Education Penalty Notice is £60 if paid within 21 days, rising to £120 if paid after this time, but within 28 days. Education Penalty notices are issued separately to each parent in respect of each child. Each case is considered on an individual basis, but the circumstances in which a Penalty Notice for non-attendance may be issued by the Local Authority include;

• unauthorised absence from school

• unauthorised leave of absence during term time

• unwarranted delayed return from authorised leave of absence e.g. in excess of the agreed number of day

• persistent late arrival at school after the register closes

A minimum evidential requirement of ten school sessions lost to unauthorised absence by an pupil in any one term, or across two half terms, is required to trigger the Penalty Notice process. A session is half a day e.g. a morning or afternoon. 

Non-payment of an Education penalty Notice will result in the withdrawal of the Notice and would normally trigger prosecution proceedings at Magistrates Court under section 444 education Act 1996. There is no right of appeal by Parents/Carers against an Education Penalty Notice. 

Persistent Absenteeism (PA):

Children are classed as persistently absent if they miss 10% or more of school due to authorised and/or unauthorised absence. Therefore, an attendance of 90% or lower at any point is a concern. This equates to missing at least 19 days of their schooling across the full school year. Absence at this level is of significant concern.  Oxton St Saviour's has monitoring systems in place to identify children who are at risk of falling into this category and will involve Parents/Carers in formulating specific plans to prevent deterioration and to build back attendance levels. 

This may include;

• phone calls home to discuss attendance to see if we can offer any further support 

• involvement with the Local Attendance Officer

• attendance Panel Meetings

• individual attendance plan for your child with regular meetings

We will work to remove barriers to attendance wherever possible, but the legal responsibility for ensuing good attendance lies with the Parents/Carer.

How to support your child to have good attendance

• Establish a good routine in the mornings and evenings so your child is prepared for the school day ahead.

• Talk with your child about the importance of good attendance

• Reassure your child that if they do start to feel poorly in school and deteriorate in school, we will call home. 

• Ensure your child arrives at school on time every day.

• Arrange dental and medical appointments outside school hours when possible.

• Inform the school if your child is absent due to illness - you must do this every day that your child is absent - not just on day 1.

• Take family holidays outside of term time.

• Discuss any problems or difficulties with the school - staff are there to help and will be supportive.

• Be fully aware of school term time dates and be aware of differences between other schools if you have children at other schools as term dates and inset days do vary between schools, including other Wirral schools. 

Please do not hesitate to let us know if there is anything we can do to support you in getting your child to school everyday.

Thank you for your continued support.