Attendance and Punctuality

Our Target for attendance is 97%

All absences need to be reported to the school office on each day that your child is off school. Absences should be reported to school by ringing the school office on 01457 834314 and pressing option 1 for the attendance line and leave a message including your child's name, the person ringing and the reason for absence or by emailing attendance@millbrook.tameside.sch.uk

Any absences that are not reported before 9.20am will be marked as unauthorised unless there are exceptional circumstances. 

If you need help ensuring that your child attends school everyday then please let us know - we may be able to help!

Thank you for all your support. 

Children’s attendance has a direct impact on their attainment and for this reason it is important that, wherever possible, children are present in school. We therefore urge you to avoid pupil absences wherever possible.

If your child is not in school for any reason this needs to be reported by ‘someone with parental responsibility’. 

Parental responsibility means:

• All natural parents, whether they are married or not;
• Any person who has parental responsibility for a child or young person; and,
• Any person who has care of a child or young person i.e. lives with and looks after the child.

This includes adults living with the children and relatives but not siblings or family friends. 

This can be done through direct contact with a member of staff, a telephone call, a letter or an email. If we do not receive this notification, the child’s absence will be marked as unauthorised. This will need to be done for each day that the child is absent from school.

If your child is off for 3 days or more with an illness we will require a doctor’s note or appointment card with the child’s name. We will also require a doctor’s note or appointment card for all absences of pupils whose attendance is below 95%. If these are not provided the children’s absence will be marked as ‘unauthorised’.

Any illness or absence that is not reported to the office will be unauthorised. 

We ask that dentist, opticians and doctors appointments be made out of school time.

If this is not possible then an appointment card must be presented to the office with as much advance notice given as possible.

Please see the letter, below, for further information. If you have any questions or concerns about your child's attendance record, please do not hesitate to speak to Mrs Ashton or Miss Turner.

For information and advice on when to keep your child off school for infection control issues please see the below document by the Public Health Authority. 

School reporting on attendance and punctuality -

As a school, we use SIMS to register and monitor attendance and punctuality. You will be provided with a copy of your child's attendance each half term. The following document explains the codes that are used:

The Importance of Punctuality

Punctuality is a very important learning habit as there is a clear link between attendance/punctuality and attainment; the more time a pupil spends in school the more likely they are to improve their opportunity to fulfil their full potential.

Being frequently late for school or lessons adds up to lost learning time:

• Arriving 5 minutes late every day adds up to over 3 days lost each year.
• Arriving 15 minutes late every day is the same as being absent for 2 weeks a year.
• Arriving 30 minutes late every day is the same as being absent for 19 days a year.

Being on time is a good thing:

• It gets the day off to a good start with everyone in a positive frame of mind.
• It helps your child make the most of their learning and sets positive patterns for the future.
• It helps children develop a sense of responsibility both for themselves and for others
• It helps your child make and keep friends.
• It improves self-confidence. 

We expect children in Years 1-6 to start lining up on the playground from 8.45am. At 8.50am class teachers will arrive on the playground to take them in to class.

Registers open at 8.50 am when children are taken in to school. For safeguarding reasons, the doors will be closed as the class teacher leads the last pupil in to school. Any child arriving after this point will need to be taken to the main office where the staff will let them through (including pupils in Reception). 

Any child arriving through the main office will be marked as ‘late -before register closes’.

Registers close at 9.10am. Any child arriving after this point will need to be signed in at the main office and will be marked as ‘late –after register closes’. For attendance purposes, this counts as an unauthorised absence for the morning session. 

Holiday during term time

Whilst as a school we recognise the benefits of family holidays and recognise that there are times when it is not possible to take these during school holidays, we are under a legal duty to only authorise these in 'exceptional circumstances.’ 

When deciding what constitutes 'exceptional circumstances' we use the advice from the National Association of Headteachers. A copy of this can be found below.