Pupil Attendance

Overall attendance:

At Redlands we have a high expectation for every child’s attendance and we look to work closely with children and their families to ensure that every child is in school and on time.

For all children, our expectation is for them to achieve a minimum of 97% attendance for each year they are with us.

We advise that you read and understand the school attendance policy, if you are uncertain of any of the content then please let us know and we will go through this with you.

What does attendance look like:

Any absence can mean your child misses key learning opportunities. Here is an overview of how absences can quickly build up and how much time can quickly be missed.

Illness:

We understand that children do get ill and may need time to recover from their illness, so we advise that you review the following webpage set up by the NHS. The webpage breaks down what to consider when your child is feeling unwell before keeping them home and this is guidance we follow within school:

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

If you are unsure of whether to keep your child home, please ask when reporting the illness to the school.

Reporting illness:

The school office is open from 8:30am until 4pm Monday to Friday during term time and you should call the school to report any illness as soon as possible, you may also email the school if you need to contact us outside of normal office hours.

Contact number: 0118 937 5527

Email address: office@redlands.reading.sch.uk

If you email us, please expect a call back from the office to confirm the reason for the absence and to check in on how your child is. We may also complete a welfare call on your child in the afternoon following a report of absence.

You must report to the school daily for any absence due to illness, unless advised otherwise by a member of the school team.

Appointments during school hours:

All appointments should be made outside of school hours and every effort should be made to reschedule any appointments that have been given and occur during school hours. However, should you be unable to reschedule the appointment we will expect your child to attend school before and after the appointment (depending on the time, location and duration).

Notifying of appointments:

We require parents to notify the school as soon as an appointment has been received. For all appointments we may ask for evidence of the appointment. We will then discuss and confirm expectations for attendance before and after.

Notice can be given in person at the school reception or by email (including evidence of the appointment) to office@redlands.reading.sch.uk. If the appointment will have your child out of school for more than 2 hours then you need to complete a leave of absence request, providing evidence of the appointment.

Notification of leave of absence during term time

You will need to complete the form below to request a leave of absence during term time, when submitting the form we require evidence of the request, this should include any return travel bookings (flights/train tickets, hotel or accommodation confirmation etc.). Once received your request will be assessed by either Mr Howell (Executive Headteacher) or Mrs Kerr (Head of School) who will then reply to your request.

In line with the school absence policy these requests would usually be declined, except in exceptional circumstances.

To submit your request for an absence please complete the following form:

Redlands Pupil Absence Request Form

Please also ensure you have read the school attendance policy and the Brighter Futures for Children Leave of Absence Leaflet before submitting any request for a leave of absence.

Fixed Penalty Notices

Any extended absences are reported to the school’s Attendance Support Worker, who will contact you regarding your request for time off and should you decide to proceed with the time off you may incur a fixed penalty notice of £120 per parent per child.

So if you have 2 children and 2 parents, then you may incur a penalty of £480.

Punctuality

Late arrivals:

Registration for the main school (reception to year 6) begins at 8:50am and it is expected that all children are in class and ready for registration to begin.

The school gates open in the morning at the following times:

• Nursery – 8:40am, close at 8:45am
• Main School – 8:45am, close at 8:55am

If you arrive outside of the gate opening times then you will need to sign in your child using the EntrySign system in reception, providing a reason for lateness.

Late collection:

We understand that there may be occasions where you are delayed in collecting your child, however it is important that you notify us as soon as you realise you will be late, this is so we can ensure your child is made aware and can be kept safe.

If you know in advance that you will be unable to collect on time then you should make a booking with the after-school club and your child will head straight there.

Late collection can cause a lot of anxiety with children and we ask that you keep us updated so we can manage the impact this may have on your child.