Dear Parents and Carers, 

As we enter winter season, we would like to thank you for your continued support in ensuring your child attends school regularly. While we appreciate that seasonal coughs, colds and flu can affect attendance at this time of year, attending school every day has a significant positive impact on students' learning, wellbeing and sense of belonging. 

We encourage families to make every effort to maintain good attendance throughout the winter months. Even a small number of missed school days can quickly add up and impact learning. Our ambition is for every student to achieve attendance of 97% or above, enabling them to fully benefit from their education and school experiences. Attendance below this level can begin to have a measurable impact on learning and progress. 

We understand that deciding whether a child is well enough to attend school can sometimes be difficult. The NHS provides excellent guidance to help parents decide whether a child should attend school (Is my child too ill for school? - NHS https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/  or watch the short animation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i5KxggkPTw ). If you are uncertain, please contact our Attendance Team, who will be happy to discuss your child's circumstances.  If  your child is too ill to attend, please contact us before 8:15 am on 0113 3871886.

Why good attendance matters:

Every day in school is an opportunity to learn and build the knowledge, skills, and confidence that open doors to future education and careers.

Missing just 5 days can drop attendance below the DfE’s 96% target.

At 95% attendance, a student misses around 45 hours of learning per year; at 90%, this rises to 95 hours.

Below 90% attendance is classed as persistently absent, which can seriously affect learning, confidence, and wellbeing.

We want to encourage great attendance and we celebrate and support great attendance . We will continue with weekly rewards, house points and Fab Fridays.

If you need any further support, please do not hesitate to contact the attendance team.

Kind regards,

Siobhan Simms