______________________________ Attendance
At Riverside Bridge we believe that attendance is vital to ensure that our pupils are able to maintain their routines and have access to learning opportunities.
We work with families to aim for all pupils to have attendance above 97% where possible. We appreciate that the needs of our pupils can affect their attendance and we ensure we work closely with our families and outside agencies to support attendance.
The Barking and Dagenham Attendance Team works with our Partnership Learning Attendance Officer, Miss G. Stoller, to advise on attendance management issues and to take referrals on pupils who attend irregularly.
Attendance Officers visit parents and pupils in their home and undertake assessments of the causes of poor school attendance and then identify strategies and action plans to resolve difficulties and improve school attendance.
Reporting Absences
The school works in close partnership with parents/carers to achieve excellent school attendance and punctuality.
The law states that parents/carers of children of compulsory school age are required to ensure that they receive full-time education suitable to their age, ability and aptitude and to any special educational needs they may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise (Education Act 1996)
It is the parents/carers’ responsibility to ensure that their children arrive at school on time by 9.15am and are picked up promptly at the end of the day by 3.15pm.
If a child is going to be absent, the parents/carers/carers should contact the school on the first day of absence. They should state the reason for their child’s absence as well as the date they are expected to return to school. If there is no contact the school will contact the parents/carers on the first day of absence. On their child’s return to school, the parents/carers should provide any evidence to support their child’s absence from school i.e. appointment letters, copy of prescription, etc.
If the parents/carers seek support regarding their child maintaining good attendance, they are advise to contact the DDSL in charge of attendance, Mrs K. Kojnozi, via bridge@riverside.bardaglea.org.uk or on 0203 946 5809.
Medical Appointment during school day
All routine medical and dental appointments should be made outside of school time. When it is essential to have a non-routine appointment during the school day, evidence (such as an appointment card or hospital letter) must be provided in advance. There may be times when the parents/carers/carer will be asked to provide further medical evidence for their child’s absence.
The parents/carers should ensure that the child is brought to school before the appointment and returned to school afterwards.
Leave of Absence
Parents/carers who request absences in term time must complete the necessary form (available from the school).
It is expected that parents/carers plan holidays and any requests for leave during school holiday periods. Holidays and requests for leave will not be authorised in term time and may incur a fixed penalty notice. All fixed penalty notices are discussed with the Partnership Learning Attendance Officer before being issued.
Should you wish to make a request please for term time leave please complete our ‘Request for Leave of Absence’ form.
Punctuality
Arriving late to school
Excellent attendance includes pupils being on time for school every day.
The doors open at 9:10am. School starts at 9:15am. It is the responsibility of the parents/carers to ensure that their child is in school before 9:15am. Any children coming after this time are late and a reason for the lateness will be recorded. Any child arriving late will be recorded at ‘U – Late (after register has closed)’. This will affect the child’s attendance.
If a child is late coming into school, the following procedure is followed:
-
the child will be marked as late on the electronic register by the school administration staff, including the reason and time of arrival;
-
any child arriving before the register closes before 9.45am, will be marked with Code L, which counts as a present mark;
-
any child who arrives after the register closes at 9.45am, will be marked with Code U, or any other absence code which relates to the reason why that child did not arrive before the close of the register;
-
the school administration staff will arrange for a member of staff to come and collect the child from the reception area. It is the parents/carers/carers’ responsibility to wait with the child until a member of staff arrives.
Patterns of lateness will be monitored and reported to the DDSL in charge of attendance, which may result in either a letter or a meeting.
Collecting late from school
The school day ends at 3:15pm. After school clubs end at 4:15pm.
When parents/carers do not collect their child within ten minutes of the end of the day the child is deemed to be late. This is 3:25pm for a normal school day and 4:25pm for after school clubs.
If a child is late being collected from school, the following procedure is followed:
-
the staff will record the time that the child was collected;
-
staff will make every attempt to contact parents/carers up until 3:45pm (5:00pm if attended an after-school club). If a child remains uncollected and no contact has been made by these times, an immediate referral will be made to the MASH team where advice will be sought from the duty senior social worker. Any previous late collections will be shared with the MASH team;
-
If a child remains uncollected by 4:15pm (5:30pm if attended an after-school club) a second call will be made to the MASH team to agree the next steps.
-
if parents/carers are late picking up their child on more than one occasion, a meeting will be arranged with a member of the Senior Leadership Team;
-
if a child continues to be collected late, a referral will be made to the MASH team (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub).
