At Aldermaston C.E. Primary School, we want every child to flourish and experience “Life in all its fullness” (John 10:10). Good attendance is an essential part of this.

We are committed to providing a safe, nurturing, calm and supportive environment where children feel that they belong, enjoy coming to school and are ready to learn.

Regular attendance at school plays a vital role in children’s learning, wellbeing, friendships, personal development and future opportunities. Children who attend school regularly are better able to build on their learning, develop positive relationships and take full advantage of everything school has to offer.

Improving attendance is everyone’s responsibility. We work in partnership with pupils, parents and carers, staff, governors, the Local Authority and other professionals to promote high levels of attendance.

We also recognise that, for some children and families, attending school can sometimes be difficult. Where there are barriers to attendance, our priority is to work with families early, build positive and trusting relationships, understand the difficulties and put appropriate support in place.

Our approach reflects our school values of Curiosity, Compassion and Courage:

Curiosity – understanding what may be preventing a child from attending regularly.
Compassion – listening to children and families and providing appropriate support.
Courage – working together to overcome barriers and make positive changes.

Current Attendance at Aldermaston

Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Whole-school attendance:
92.6%

School attendance target: 95% or above

We regularly analyse attendance information across the school, including the attendance of different groups of pupils, so that we can identify concerns early and provide appropriate support.

Why Does Attendance Matter?

Every day in school matters.

Regular attendance provides children with the best possible opportunity to:

make good academic progress;
develop secure knowledge and skills;
maintain friendships and positive relationships;
participate fully in school life;
develop confidence, independence and resilience;
access additional support where required; and
achieve the best possible outcomes.

Even relatively small amounts of absence can accumulate over the course of a school year.

For example:

Attendance	Approximate days absent during a school year
100%	0 days
95%	Around 9½ days
90%	Around 19 days
85%	Around 28½ days

Attendance of 90% or below is classed nationally as persistent absence.

A child attending school for 90% of the year may initially sound like good attendance, but it is equivalent to missing approximately one day of school every two weeks.

What Does the Research Tell Us?

National research shows a clear relationship between regular attendance and educational achievement.

Pupils with higher levels of attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 generally have lower levels of absence than pupils with lower attainment.

For example, national data has shown that:

pupils who did not achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at Key Stage 2 had higher levels of absence than pupils who achieved the expected or higher standard;
the greater the proportion of school sessions missed, the lower pupils' attainment tended to be; and
pupils who were persistently absent were significantly less likely to achieve expected academic standards.

Attendance is about much more than academic outcomes. Regular attendance also helps children to develop:

confidence;
friendships;
routines;
a sense of belonging;
social and emotional skills; and
positive attitudes towards learning.

For these reasons, we believe that regular attendance gives every child the greatest opportunity to nurture their talents, grow as individuals and thrive.

What Should I Do if My Child Is Unwell?

We understand that children will occasionally be too unwell to attend school.

It is usually appropriate for children to attend school with mild illnesses, such as a minor cough, runny nose or sore throat, provided they are otherwise well.

Children should normally remain at home if they have a high temperature of 38°C or above, or if they are too unwell to take part in normal school activities.

Parents and carers should refer to current NHS guidance when deciding whether their child is well enough to attend school.

If you are unsure, please contact the school office and we will be happy to discuss this with you.

Reporting an Absence

If your child is going to be absent from school, parents or carers must:

Contact the school before 8:45am on each day of absence and provide the reason for the absence.

You can contact the school by telephone or email.

If a child is absent and we have not received an explanation, the school will contact parents/carers to establish the reason for the absence.

This forms an important part of our safeguarding procedures.

Medical and Dental Appointments

Wherever possible, routine medical and dental appointments should be arranged outside school hours.

We appreciate that this is not always possible, particularly for hospital or specialist appointments.

Where an appointment must take place during the school day, children should miss the minimum amount of school time necessary.

For example, where possible, a child should attend school before an appointment and/or return to school afterwards.

Parents may be asked to provide evidence of the appointment.

What Happens if a Reason for Absence Is Not Provided?

If your child is absent and we have not received a reason, the school will attempt to contact the parents/carers and other appropriate emergency contacts held on our records.

If no satisfactory reason for the absence is established, the absence may be recorded as unauthorised.

Where we have concerns about a child's welfare, or where a child has been absent and we have been unable to establish their whereabouts, we may take further safeguarding action.

Depending on the circumstances, this may include:

contacting additional emergency contacts;
carrying out a home visit;
contacting other professionals involved with the family;
contacting Children's Services; and/or
contacting the police where there are immediate safeguarding concerns.

Our first priority will always be to ensure that the child is safe.

Leave of Absence During Term Time

Parents and carers have a legal responsibility to ensure their child attends school regularly.

Headteachers are only able to grant leave of absence during term time in exceptional circumstances.

The Department for Education is clear that a family holiday, or absence for leisure or recreation, would not normally be considered an exceptional circumstance.

Any request for leave of absence must be made in advance by a parent or carer with whom the child normally lives.

A Leave of Absence Request Form can be obtained from the school office or downloaded from our website.

Each request will be considered individually.

Where leave is granted, the Headteacher will determine the number of school days that may be authorised.

There is no automatic entitlement to take a child out of school during term time, and leave of absence is granted entirely at the Headteacher's discretion in accordance with statutory guidance.

If leave is taken without permission, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and may result in a referral to the Local Authority.

Penalty Notices and Legal Intervention

There is a national framework for considering penalty notices for school absence.

The national threshold is reached when a pupil has 10 sessions of unauthorised absence within a rolling period of 10 school weeks.

Ten sessions are equivalent to five school days.

The absences do not need to be consecutive and may include a combination of different types of unauthorised absence.

When the threshold is reached, the school must consider the circumstances of the case and whether further support or formal action is appropriate.

This may include considering whether:

additional support is required;
support has been offered but has not been engaged with;
support has not resulted in sufficient improvement;
a Notice to Improve may be appropriate; or
the absence relates to unauthorised term-time leave where support would not be appropriate.

Where appropriate, the school may refer the matter to West Berkshire Council for consideration of further action.

This may include a Penalty Notice or other legal intervention.

Our preference will always be to work constructively with families to improve attendance wherever this is appropriate.

How Does Aldermaston Monitor Attendance?

Attendance is monitored every day.

Registers are checked each morning and unexplained absences are followed up promptly as part of our safeguarding procedures.

We also review attendance data regularly to identify:

declining attendance;
persistent absence;
repeated lateness;
patterns of absence;
particular days on which absence occurs;
attendance of vulnerable pupils; and
pupils who may require additional support.

We do not wait until attendance becomes a significant problem before speaking with families.

Our graduated approach

95% and above – Good attendance

We encourage all pupils to maintain attendance of at least 95%, wherever possible.

Below 95% – Attendance monitored

Where attendance begins to fall below 95%, we will monitor this more closely and may contact parents/carers if we identify concerns or patterns of absence.

92% or below – Early concern

Where attendance falls to approximately 92% or below, we will normally make contact with parents/carers to discuss the attendance picture, identify any emerging barriers and consider whether support is needed.

90% or below – Persistent absence

Attendance of 90% or below is defined nationally as persistent absence.

Where a child becomes persistently absent, parents/carers will normally be invited to meet with school so that we can understand the reasons for the absence and agree appropriate actions and support.

For some pupils, an individual attendance support plan may be put in place.

The purpose of this graduated approach is to identify difficulties early, before patterns of poor attendance become established.

What if I Am Struggling to Get My Child Into School?

Please speak to us.

There can be many reasons why a child may find attending school difficult, and asking for support early gives us the best opportunity to help.

We will listen carefully to you and your child and work with you to understand what may be preventing regular attendance.

Support might include:

meeting with your child's class teacher;
support from the Headteacher or SENDCo;
pastoral or emotional wellbeing support;
reasonable adjustments where appropriate;
support with routines;
an individual attendance support plan;
support from Early Help services;
liaison with health professionals;
support from West Berkshire Council; or
working alongside other professionals already supporting your family.

We want families to feel able to approach us before attendance reaches crisis point.

Our approach will always seek to balance support, challenge and our statutory responsibilities.

Working Together

Excellent attendance is achieved most effectively when school, pupils and families work together.

We ask parents and carers to:

make school attendance a priority;
ensure children arrive at school on time every day;
contact us promptly when their child is absent;
arrange appointments outside school hours wherever possible;
avoid taking holidays during term time;
talk to us as soon as difficulties arise; and
work with the school and other professionals where additional support is needed.

In return, Aldermaston C.E. Primary School will:

provide a safe, welcoming and supportive school environment;
promote the importance of good attendance;
listen to pupils and families;
identify concerns early;
communicate openly and respectfully;
offer support to remove barriers wherever possible;
celebrate good and improving attendance appropriately;
monitor attendance carefully; and
fulfil our statutory safeguarding and attendance responsibilities.

Above all, we want every child to be in school, included, learning and thriving.

Useful Documents and Links

Parents and carers can find the following information below:

Aldermaston C.E. Primary School Attendance Policy
Working Together to Improve School Attendance – Parent Guide
Leave of Absence Request Form
NHS guidance: Is my child too ill for school?
Department for Education attendance guidance
West Berkshire Council school attendance information

If you have any concerns about your child's attendance, please contact the school office. We are here to help.

If you need to request leave of absence, please do so in writing using the school form Request for Leave of Absence and hand this in to the school office or e mail it in through the enquiries@aldermaston.w-berks.school.uk.

To find out more about our school approach to attendance, please read our below:

Public Health Guidance

Attendance