Attendance & Progress

Our school is committed to promoting the welfare of children through regular school attendance.

The children who are most happy and successful in school are those with the best attendance.”

Malcolm Arnold Prep. School attendance lead: Mrs T Hudson
Absence line phone number: 01604 931130
Who can help: The school office and/or the Inclusion Team

We would like to thank our parents for their commitment to their child’s attendance.

The majority of our parents ensure that their child attends regularly and on time, meeting our academy expectation of at least 96% attendance over the year.

We love to see the happy faces of the children as they get to school on time to play with their friends before sitting down together, ready to learn. Children who do not get to school on time or miss some days of school altogether find it more difficult to make friends and to catch up on their learning.

If your child is ill

We know that sometimes your child may be unable to attend because they feel unwell.

In this case please contact the main office and leave a message telling us the reason for your child’s absence, preferably before 08.30am each day. Some parents think that their child may be better off at home if they are ill, but generally, we are happy to have them in school and will keep a close eye on them to make sure that they are okay, if you ask us to. We have also produced a helpful leaflet to help you to decide whether your child is well enough to come to school which can be downloaded below. We use NHS guidance to advise and you can access this yourself by clicking here.

If we do not hear from you first thing in the morning and your child is not in school, then we will try and contact you as quickly as possible to ensure that your child is safe. This could be by text, telephone or home visit. Please rest assured that we always pursue this until we are satisfied, so you know that your child’s welfare is important to us.

Other Reasons for Absence

Most of our parents recognise that their children are happiest and are more successful when they attend school regularly.

For that reason, they do not ask for holidays during term time, because they know how damaging this can be for their child’s education. In the unlikely event that you want to ask for your child’s absence to be authorised due to an exceptional circumstance, please ask to speak with the Principal so that you can set out the special circumstances of your request.

If there is any other reason why you or your child is finding it difficult to attend school regularly and on time, then please contact the Inclusion Team who can help. The team have already helped many other parents and children in this way. Seeking early help, no matter the issue, can help you to avoid any fines for non-attendance which can be very costly.