Attendance

Regular attendance is the best way of ensuring that a child makes the most of the educational opportunities available to them. When a child is absent from school, they miss not only the teaching provided but are also less prepared for the lessons after their return. There are only 190 statutory school days in one year and 175 days (weekends and school holidays) available to use for holidays or leave. Therefore, every school day counts.

Once your child is registered at The Icknield Primary school they must by law attend regularly and punctually. Your child should only miss school if they are ill or unable to attend for some other unavoidable reason. If your child is absent and we do not receive an explanation from parents or carers, or we consider the explanation unsatisfactory, the school will record your child’s absence as ‘unauthorised’.

The following absences for acceptable reasons will be authorised:

• sickness
• unavoidable medical or dental appointments (please arrange these for after school or during school holidays)
• days of religious observance

How you can support your child’s attendance and punctuality:

• Make sure your child arrives at school on time. The school gates are open from 8:40am and will close at 8:50am. This encourages habits of good timekeeping and lessens any possible classroom disruption. If your child arrives after the register has closed without a good reason, this will be recorded as an ‘unauthorised’ absence for that session.
• If your child has to miss school, you must inform the school office and provide the reason on the first morning of the absence using the email: attendance@icknieldprimary.org
• If you know or think that your child is having difficulties attending school, you should contact us. It is better to do this sooner rather than later, as most problems can be dealt with very quickly.

Details of school terms and holiday dates are available on the Term Dates page.