Attendance
Why is regular school attendance important?
90% attendance sounds good, but means that your child misses:
- one half day each week
- nearly four weeks every school year
- over one school year in a school career
Our school's Attendance Target for this academic year is 97%
Lytchett Matravers Primary School works closely with children and parents in connection with attendance so that each child can achieve their full potential.
By law, all children of compulsory school age (five to sixteen) must receive a suitable full-time education. Once your child is registered at school, you are legally responsible for making sure that they attend regularly. You also need to think about the negative impact upon the following:
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their learning
-
their friendships
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their self-esteem and confidence.
Lytchett Matravers Primary School monitors the attendance of every child in the school and works to support those children and their families who are not attending school without sufficient reason.
It is very important that you contact school, on the first day of absence, to let us know that you child is ill. Please either contact the school office on 01202 622378 or use the school App to notify an absence.
Lytchett Matravers Primary School App
Once downloaded, open the App and click on:
‘Notify Absence’
This will be emailed directly to the school office
(You do need to be registered for parent mail to activate this service)
Timekeeping!
Timekeeping is also important in the education of your child. If your child is persistently late then they are missing out on important starts of lessons.
School gates open at 8:50am and will close at 9:00am promptly.
If you arrive after this time, please report to the main school office where your child will be given a late mark. Registration will close at just after 9:00am and any child who arrives after this time will be marked as absent.
We work closely with Dorset County Council and Ofsted to monitor each child's punctuality. Parents who persistently bring their children to school late will be contacted by the school’s Pastoral Care Worker – Mrs. Kate McGrail.
Absence Letters
Red Letter: 90% and below. Poor attendance with serious concern. DANGER ZONE PERSISTENT ABSENTEE. Meetings will be called to address issues and provide support to improve. Parents will be asked in for a meeting to discuss ways in which to improve attendance.
Children should not take family holidays during term time.
Please be aware that if holidays are taken during term time this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence.
Pastoral Care Worker