At Hambledon Primary School we expect the very best of our children. Good attendance is considered a high priority.

It is the responsibility and legal duty of parents / carers to ensure that their child attends school. We seek a partnership with parents to encourage good attendance and punctuality. We reserve the right, as part of our safeguarding responsibilities, to make a home visit if a child's absence is causing concern and no contact has been made with the school.

Schools are required to keep detailed records of children’s attendance, including any absence from school.  There is clear evidence between good attendance and the outcomes children achieve at the end of their time in school i.e. children whose attendance is higher are more likely to achieve 5 good GCSE results. It is important to get into good attendance patterns early on.

Types of Absence

Every half-day absence from school has to be classified by the school as either authorised or unauthorised.  This is why information about the cause of any absence is always required. If we do not receive a reason, it will be unauthorised.
Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from school for a good reason like illness, medical/dental appointments which unavoidably fall in school time, emergencies or other unavoidable cause.

Unauthorised absences are those which the school does not consider reasonable and for which no leave has been given.  This includes:

• Parents/carers keeping children off school unnecessarily
• Absences which have not been properly explained
• Children who arrive at school too late to get a mark
• Shopping, looking after other children or birthdays
• Day trips and holidays in term time which have not been agreed

Why punctuality is so important

• Children that arrive late are likely to have missed the start of the lesson which makes it more difficult for them to learn as the lesson progresses.
• Late arrivals distract classmates and interrupt the teacher's lesson.
• Children that arrive late are likely to feel unsettled and are embarrassed to walk into class once it has started.
• Children that arrive late are developing bad habits. It sets up your child for the future; whether at primary school, secondary school, college or work. 

Classroom doors open at 08:40 and lessons begin at 08:55. The register is taken twice a day; once at the start of the morning session and once at the start of the afternoon session. Children will receive a late mark if they are not in class by 08:55am. The register officially closes at 09:20am, after which time pupils arriving without good reason will be marked as a U which counts as a legal absence.

For any pupils where punctuality continues to be a problem, parents / carers are invited in to meet with Mrs Blower, the headteacher.

If absences become a concern

• Initial issues are raised by letters and/or phone calls to parents/carer
• If absences persist, parent/carer is invited in to discuss support with the Headteacher
• If this fails to achieve required improvement, then the matter may be referred to the Attendance Legal Panel

https://www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/behaviour-attendance-parents