Attendance

For pupils at Newtown Nursery School to have the best chances of success, it is vital that they are at school (and on time) every day the school is open unless the absence is unavoidable.

During the academic year of 2024/2025, Newtown is striving to achieve our target of 96% attendance. We aim to reach this goal through incentives for pupils, parental engagement and joint agency working. 

Attendance Policy 

Being in school is important to your child’s achievement, wellbeing, and wider development.  Did you know that having just 2 days absent a month means your child misses 10% of the school year.

• To give your child the best possible start in life

• To support their learning journey

• To develop friendships and social skills

The government has set a target of 95% attendance for all pupils. This rate allows for periods of illness or particular circumstances when absence from school is unavoidable. We want your child to attend school regularly as this supports their learning. If your child is not well or if you have a planned reason why your child cannot attend school, please inform the school at the earliest opportunity.

• Attending 90% of the time or less will have a serious effect on learning.

• One day’s absence every two weeks will give 90% attendance.

• Up to the age of 16, 90% attendance will mean losing over a year of school – more than half

How close is your child to 100% attendance?

Recognition Awards 

Pupils who have achieved 100% attendance throughout the school year will be presented with a certificate and gift at the end of the Summer term.

 Attendance pathways include:

• If your child is going to be absent, please call the office and inform us of the reason before your child's session begins.  There is an option to leave a voicemail to let us know, or you can speak to the office.  Our office team will call you if we have not received a message. 

• We believe that a positive relationship between school, pupils and parents is key. We work closely with families to support and improve attendance. This may involve: face-to-face conversations before or after school, home visits and meetings in school.

• If attendance concerns cannot be addressed using in-school strategies, cases may be referred to external agencies such as the Local Authority’s Pupil Attendance Support Team (PAST) or Children and Family Wellbeing Service (CFW).

• Regular attendance at school is important to your child's education, wellbeing and development. If a pupil has poor attendance this significantly affects their learning progress and social skills.

• Punctuality is also an important aspect of school attendance. Children must arrive at school at the beginning of their session time to avoid incurring a late mark. Children late to school, even by a few minutes, miss important aspects of their learning during group time.                                                                      

If you wish for your child to be absent from school for a period of time such as for a planned holiday, please complete a Holiday Request form (available from office).