School attendance is vital for your child's future. At St Christophers, we work closely with families to promote good attendance.  

Poor attendance can seriously affect your child’s:

• Attainment in school
• Relationships with other children and their ability to form lasting friendships
• Confidence to attempt new work and work alongside others

Attend today and achieve tomorrow

The attendance pattern for all children is monitored weekly with the school seeking to work actively with parents to ensure a regular pattern is maintained.  We expect all children on roll to attend every day, when the school is in session, as long as they are fit and healthy enough to do so. 

Punctuality is also monitored and extremely important; lateness not only disrupts the class but also results in lost learning time. Arriving 15 minutes late each school day results in 33 hours lost learning in the school year. The law states that children of statutory school age who are on roll at a school or academy must attend regularly and punctually.  Regular attendance is important, because it is the best way ensuring children make the most of the education opportunities available to them.

Parents and carers have a legal duty to ensure their children attend school regularly and punctually.  Failure to ensure a child’s regular attendance at the school where they are registered is a criminal offence which carries a fine of up to £1000 per parent per child (Section 444(1)) or in more serious cases (aggravated offence), a fine of up to £2500 per parent per child and/or up to 3 months imprisonment (Section 444 (A)).

Holidays during term time are not authorised and have been proven to have a negative effect on children's learning and their ability to achieve. Government guidelines state that ‘Headteachers should not grant any leave of absence unless in exceptional circumstances’. In exceptional circumstances, requests for term time absence should be made in writing, using the form below, at least two weeks prior to the absence. The school will notify you of the decision and the implications of a term time absence. The school are obliged to notify the Local Authority of term time absences and as such you may be liable for a Penalty Notice payable directly to the Local Authority.

 Not sure if your child is well enough for school? Check against the below diagram or against the NHS advice found here: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/