At Weyford Nursery and Primary Academy, our school values are integral to everything we do and we believe that for a child to reach their full educational achievement, a high level of school attendance is essential.

Our full attendance policy can be found in the policies section of this website.

A request to authorise absence from school due to exceptional circumstances can be made for consideration by our headteacher. Any unauthorised absence from school may be subject to a penalty notice being issued.

Attendance rewards

At Weyford we offer weekly and termly incentive awards for high attendance marks. 

• Attendance bear - a weekly award given to the class in both key stages 1 & 2 with the highest weekly  attendance percentage.
• Certificates - an award every half term for pupils with high attendance; Bronze 95%, Silver 97.5% and gold 100%.

Attendance expectations

What YOU must do:

• Telephone the school before 8:20am each day of your child's absence.
• Tell the school in advance, of any medical appointments and bring in appointment cards/letters.
• If you are not sure whether your child is well enough to attend school, send them in anyway as they often perk up on arrival. 
• Have a back-up plan for if your child misses transport, call on a family member, neighbour or friend. 
• If you and your child are experiencing difficulties with school attendance then talk to us as a first step so we can help.

What WE will do:

• Check your child's attendance every day.
• Phone home to discuss your child's attendance with you.
• Invite you into school for attendance meetings if we are concerned.
• If we cannot establish a reason for absence, then we may make a welfare home visit.

One missed school day could be as many as seven missed lesson, as well as time spent with friends and doing extracurricular activities. Lessons build on what children already know and missing one may make tomorrows lesson more difficult. 

We know that sometimes our pupils cannot come to school because they are really unwell - and that's the right thing to do for them and other students. Medical advice is clear however that children with mild illness will often be well enough to attend - for example if they have a cough, or cold, without a temperature. The NHS guidance https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/ is designed to support parents in their decision making about mild illness.