Attendance

Good attendance is vital for children to achieve well and be happy at school.  Children who are absent regularly may fall behind or be unhappy coming to school.

You can find the latest DSAT policy on Attendance Management and our own Durweston Attendance Strategy on our Policies and Documents page (link below).

What is good attendance? 

If your child has better than 96.5% attendance at school, they are doing well.   Children with 80% attendance will miss an average of one day a week and two years of school by the time they are in Year 11.  Similarly attendance of 90% may sound good but it is still half a day a week and a year of missed education by the time the child is 16.  We don’t need to explain how difficult it can be for some children to make up for a year of lost time.  Under new guidance issued by the government a child is considered persistently absent (PA) if their attendance is below 90%.  

What do we do? 

We want to encourage our children to be at school as often as possible.  We celebrate outstanding  attendance at the end of teach term and at the year by giving certificates to children  with 100% attendance.  We monitor attendance  every half term and try and support families to improve attendance.  We will work with other agencies e.g the LA Inclusion lead and your GP,  to do this. We make it part of our school ethos that good attendance is expected and rewarded.

What can parents do? 

Ensure you phone in on the first day of absence to give the reason for your child being absent.   If you are concerned about your child’s attendance or they seem unhappy to come to school please talk to someone as soon as possible.  Normally it is best to speak to the class teacher in the first instance and then the Headteacher.

What about holidays? 

Schools are not allowed to authorise any holiday in term-time. Please read the latest government guidance here.