Why is Good Attendance Important?

For a child to reach their full educational achievement, a high level of school attendance is essential. Excellent attendance underpins academic achievement. At Farnham Heath End school, we aim for all students to have an attendance record of greater than 96%.

We are committed to providing an education of the highest quality for all our students and endeavour to provide an environment where all students feel valued and welcome. Parents/carers and students all play a part in making our school as successful as it is. Every child has a right to access the education to which they are entitled to. Parents/carers and teachers share the responsibility for supporting and promoting excellent school attendance and punctuality for all. It is our duty to consistently strive to achieve a goal of 100% attendance for all children.

Every opportunity will be used to convey to students and their parents/carers the importance of regular and punctual attendance. It is the legal responsibility of parents/carers to ensure their child attends school regularly. The government makes it explicitly clear in their latest guidance.  For children to take full advantage of the educational opportunities offered, it is vital a child is at school, on time, every day the school is open unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable.

The routines children develop around attendance and punctuality at school are the same as the expectations of any future employer in the world of work. High attainment, confidence with peers and staff, and future aspirations depend on good attendance.

Good attendance is important because:

• Statistics show a direct link between under-achievement and absence below 95%.
• Regular attenders make better progress, both socially and academically.
• Regular attenders find school routines, school work and friendships easier to cope with.
• Regular attenders find learning more satisfying.
• Regular attenders are more successful in transferring between primary school, secondary school, and higher education, employment or training.
• There are only 190 directed teaching days allocated to an academic year.  This highlights there are 175 days where students are not in school.  Please arrange any appointments, etc during these days if possible.