Attendance, Punctuality and Absences during term-time

At South Wilford, we place great emphasis on attendance and punctuality. For any child to reach their full potential it is important that they attend school regularly, arrive in good time and are fully prepared ready to learn.

Our attendance target for this year is 96.8% and our regular monitoring focuses not just on the whole school and individual classes and year groups but individual pupils who might be facing particular challenges around getting to school on time or indeed at all.

We work in partnership with our colleagues at Transform Trust through our membership of their Attendance Group that meets half-termly to discuss trends, issues, legislation and campaigns to improve performance. We also collaborate closely with our Educational Welfare colleagues at Nottingham City Council who work with us on more complex cases that might involve other agencies.

Our attendance celebrations are not-to-be missed! From certificates to badges to toasting marshmallows and learning how to perform circus skills, the children benefit from them all! Below is a small gallery of photographs from our end of year celebration event which was amazing!

Absence due to illness
It is important that you notify the school as soon as possible on the first day of your child’s absence. Notifications can be made by text, e-mail, telephone or by popping in to the school office.

Whilst we have some guidelines we are keen for children to return to school as soon as you deem them fit and well enough to do so.

GPs will treat some illnesses with prescribed medicine e.g. antibiotics and penicillin. Often, once medication has taken effect and the child no longer poses a risk, they are ready to return to school but the course of medication has not been completed please bear in mind that we are happy to administer prescribed medicine during the school day subject to prior completion of our standard form.

Please speak to school office staff for more information.

Absence due to holiday
As a school, we only authorise term-time holidays in the most exceptional of circumstances and cases are always subject to further checks.

All requests for term-time leave must be made to the school using the Leave Request form (see our Attendance Protocol on the Policies Page). We will respond to all applications in writing and in line with our Attendance Policy. For any absences of 5 days or more (4 days if ‘tacked-on’ to an INSET Day or school holiday) we will pursue a Penalty Notice or in some cases prosecution through our colleagues at Nottingham City Council, Educational Welfare Services.