Frogmore Infant School staff and governors are united in their belief that regular school attendance enables children to maximise the educational opportunities available to them. Excellent attendance helps children to become emotionally resilient, confident and competent adults who are able to realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to their community. 

Frogmore Infant School values all children. We work with families to identify the barriers to achieving and maintaining excellent attendance and offer the right services, at the right time, to resolve difficulties. The Senior Leader Responsible for Attendance (Mrs Jill King) and Attendance Officer (Miss Rachel Heron) monitor attendance weekly and use attendance data to identify any patterns of concern, whilst also celebrating success.

Attendance concerns will be raised with parents (when reasons are not known by the school, e.g. recovery from an operation). This information may also be shared with the Local Authority. Where we have concerns, or there is a lack of engagement from families to improve attendance, we will follow the school’s staged approach to improving attendance.

Frogmore Infant Schools staged approach is child-centred and prioritises support and developing strong working relationships with families. We will use the Early Help process to provide support prior to escalation and consider how we can work with families to enable children to access their right to education.

Attendance figures for each child will be reported to parents termly: as part of the Parents’ Consultations and pupils’ Annual Reports. Every half term, the Attendance Team will report on the overall attendance figure, as well as the figures for specific groups, to the Local Governing Body. These figures will be closely monitored for support.

A Staged Approach

At Frogmore Infant School, we implement a staged approach to promote excellent attendance for every pupil. Our staged approach is underpinned by six principles:

1. Expect: a culture where all children can, and want, to be in school.

2. Monitor: analyse attendance data weekly to identify patterns of poor attendance or areas of concern.

3. Listen and Understand: working alongside parents to understand their barriers to attendance; work together to remove them.

4. Facilitate Support: empower parents by supporting them to access external support to overcome barriers outside of school.

5. Formalise Support: this could include formalising support through a Parenting Contract of Education Supervision Order.

6. Enforce: statutory intervention or prosecution to protect the child’s right to an education. This stage will only be implemented when all previous stages of the approach have been exhausted and there is no other option.

At Frogmore Infant School we expect pupils to attend school for 100% of the academic year.

You can support your child to have excellent attendance by taking these steps: 

• Ensure your child arrives on time for school every day and is ready to learn. Arriving after registration is recorded as an unauthorised absence.
• If your child appears to be only slightly unwell, send them in to school. We have staff who will contact you if their condition deteriorates.
• Book any medical appointments outside of school hours. If this is unavoidable, please book for as late in the afternoon as possible and inform the school of appointments in advance.
• Supply a copy of the appointment card or hospital letter if your child has an appointment during school hours.

‘On The Day’ Absences: What should I do if my child is not ‘fit’ to go into school?

On each day your child is unfit to come to school, please report this absence by phoning the school office on 01252 872601 to let us know. In the message you must leave your child’s full name, year and class and give the specific reason for absence. The information you give will be recorded on our official register.

Leave of Absence Requests

If, due to exceptional circumstances, you would like your child be absent from school during term time, then you must apply for this in advance. This also includes for religious observance reasons. You should use the Leave of Absence Application Form, which is available below. Please fill in this form and hand it to the School Office.

If you do not request a leave of absence in advance, your child’s absence will be recorded as unauthorised and you may be liable for a penalty notice or fine.

Punctuality

All pupils are expected to arrive on time at 8.40am. We advise all parents  to ensure their child is on site prior to this. The school gates open at 8.30am. The children should be dropped off at their classroom door, via the playground. The school register will be taken at 8.50am. All pupils arriving after this time are required to report to the main office with their parents, who will be expected to sign the child in to school and provide a reason for their lateness. 

Arrival after the closure of the register at 9.00am will result in an unauthorised mark for this session. 

The Government remains very clear that no child should miss school apart from in exceptional circumstances and schools must continue to take steps to reduce absence to support children’s attainment. 

For more information, you can visit https://www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/behaviour-attendance-parents

Support Services

Our school works closely with families to address any barriers to regular attendance. All schools are
expected to promote school attendance and provide support to remove barriers where a pupil is
struggling to attend school. This may mean that the school raises the issue of attendance even if your
child has only had a couple of days off ill. This is not because they don’t believe you. By working with
you, schools can step in early to help to prevent patterns of absence developing.

If you feel support is required, please our Attendance Officer, Rachel Heron via the school office.