At Ranelagh we want your child to get the best from their education. We know that attendance is a major factor which impacts directly on how well children do at school. It is a focus nationally and the aim is that more children will reach their potential through improved attendance and punctuality. It is a parent/carer’s legal responsibility to ensure the child attends school daily. Whilst we understand that children do become ill through the year, consistent attendance should result in attendance of a percentage close to 96%. We want to raise the profile of attendance and to inform you of our current practice. 
 

• The start of the school day is for ALL CHILDREN.
• The doors to the school will be open from 8.45am
• To encourage punctuality the gates and doors from the playgrounds will be closed at 8.55 am prompt.
• Children who arrive after this time will need to enter via the school office and will be marked as late.

• Any pupil who arrives AFTER the register has closed (9.10am) will receive an unauthorised late mark.

We want to raise the profile of attendance at Ranelagh and work with families to make sure our children get the most from their education; promoting good attendance and punctuality through:

• Newsletters
• School displays

• Reporting on attendance in school reports and at parent evenings.

• Celebration assemblies

• First-day absence contact

From April 2018, new procedures will come into place which aim to keep parents better informed of their child's attendance and deal with any attendance issues early and quickly:

• Attendance letters - where attendance drops below 95%, parents will be notified, as will persistent lateness (more than 6 lates over a half term period). The purpose of the letter is to alert parents as to their child’s attendance rate.
• Where attendance continues to drop and goes below 90% a further letter will be issued.
• Informal meetings to discuss a child’s absence and offer support, as appropriate.  
• More formal meetings with parents and the Educational Welfare Officer to resolve any difficulties and improve the attendance within a specified time limit.

Fixed Penalty Notices

A fixed penalty notice will be issued in situations where unauthorised absence occurs in the following circumstances:

• Where a pupil has more than 6 sessions of unauthorised absence which includes being late after the register closes and all other unauthorised circumstances.

• Where a pupil is stopped during a truancy sweep and the absence is not authorised by the school.

• Where pupils go on an unauthorised holiday or personal trip during school term time.