Attendance

We all know that good attendance is crucial for pupils to do their very best at school. We are committed to providing a comprehensive education for all our pupils. We also appreciate the strong partnerships we have with parents and families which helps to ensure pupils have the best attendance possible. To this end, we will do as much as we can to ensure that all pupils achieve maximum possible attendance and that any issues, which may impede full attendance, are acted upon as quickly as possible.

We believe good attendance is when children attend at least 97% of the school year and therefore our attendance target is 97%. This equates to attending at least 185 of the 190 days when school is open to pupils. This is only 5 days off for the full academic year.

As a school, we are unable to authorise term time holidays. We monitor attendance regularly. If your child’s attendance drops below 90%, under Government guidelines, this means that they are classed as a ‘persistent absentee’ and we will inform you of this and discuss this with you. We want to support you and your child with excellent attendance and will do all we can with this. However, we may also use the Local Authority formal attendance monitoring if attendance doesn't improve.

Here is some useful guidance from the NHS with advice about whether your child is well enough to attend school: Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

We are part of the Elizabethan Family of Schools who have united and created a Family policy regarding the expectations for school attendance. Click here for this policy: Attendance-punctuality-booklet Elizabethan Family of Schools

Reporting Absences

If your child is not able to attend school, you must inform the school office by 8.45am by
calling 01777 817265 and leaving a message on our absence line. Alternatively you can contact the school office via Class Dojo or on office28@mattersey.notts.sch.uk.

If your child has a medical appointment, we ask for a copy of the appointment letter for our absence records. You can also use Class Dojo/email to send a screenshot. If this is not possible, speak to your child's teacher to confirm the reason for the medical appointment. If possible, we ask you to make appointments outside of school hours.

Our school day begins at 8:45am. The school gate will open at 8:40am and children will come straight into their classroom to settle with a morning task. Parents of pupils in the Burrow Class may escort their child into the classroom. There is always a staff member on the school gate if parents have any messages to pass on. Whilst classroom staff will always endeavour to speak with you, the morning is an important time to settle pupils and begin learning and so this isn't always the best time for conversations.

Our school day ends at 3:15pm. The school gate will be opened from 3:10pm so that parents can collect their child/ren from the playground. The children will be dismissed by an adult to you from their classroom. This is an important part of our safeguarding, so please be patient during this handover period. Also if your child is being collected by someone different, please ensure you tell us beforehand so that we have permission.

The School day for all our full time pupils is 8:45am until 3:15pm which is the 32.5 hours compulsory opening times. We also offer a breakfast club from 8:15am each day and all pupils are welcome to attend.