Attendance and Punctuality
ACHIEVE - LEARN - FLOURISH
The Aspire Learning Federation is made up of two schools - Elm Park Primary School and R J Mitchell Primary School in the London Borough of Havering.
At R J Mitchell Primary School we believe that good school attendance and good punctuality gives children the opportunity of success and helps develop skills for life. We believe it is vital that all children attend school every day unless there is an unavoidable and justifiable cause.
Attendance at R J Mitchell Primary School THE FACTS!
BE PUNCTUAL:
DID YOU KNOW THAT EACH DAY MISSED:
● Puts your child behind in their learning and makes it harder for them to catch up.
● Can lead to lower achievement in reading, writing and numeracy.
● Affects their confidence to attempt new learning and their ability to work and learn alongside others in general and as a result develops reluctance or indeed refusal to attend school.
● Disrupts your child’s routines and can make them feel vulnerable on their return to school.
● Causes disruption to teaching routines (if teachers need to revisit previous learning) and as a result affects the learning of other children in your child’s class.
● Affects their ability to make and sustain friendship groups. Children who are regularly absent from school often feel excluded from play-time games and activities and feel they have little in common with their peers.
● Can lead to your child becoming disillusioned with school and education as they get older.
● Can lead to you, as the parent/carer, facing legal and financial consequences. Please remember that you have a legal duty to ensure your child attends school on a regular basis.
It is amazing how quickly absence can mount up, please look at the table below which shows how absence equates to learning time lost.
WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO:
✅ Send your child to school every day, all day, unless they are sick.
✅ Develop good sleep and morning routines.
✅ Schedule appointments and extra-curricular activities outside of school.
✅ Avoid taking holidays during term time.