St Christopher's is proud of having higher than average attendance rates. However, we recognise that good attendance requires effort from parents, pupils and school alike. We are proud to be supporting the Government's new 'Moments Matter, Attendance counts' campaign in a drive to improve school attendance across the country.
Every day in school counts. One day can mean as many as five lessons missed, as well as spending time with friends and taking part in extra-curricular activities. School attendance is important for equipping your child with skills for life and attending school every day can help your child to achieve their aspirations, and the aspirations you have for them.
You can read more about this here:
Why is school attendance important and what support is available?
St Christopher's Attendance Policy
Illness:
It can be difficult to know whether your child is too ill to attend school. NHS guidance is clear that it’s fine to send them in with a minor cough or common cold, provided they don’t have a temperature. If you are unsure whether or not your child should be kept off school, always contact school. We would be happy to discuss it with you.
Find out more about this issue here:
Is my child too ill for school? - NHS
Letter to school leaders on mild illness and school attendance - GOV.UK
Anxiety and Mental Health:
We know that parents and carers worry about their children’s mental health. Many children will experience normal but difficult emotions that make them nervous about attending school, such as worries about friendships, schoolwork, exams or variable moods. You can support your child’s physical, social and mental wellbeing by ensuring they are in school every day and it is important to note that these pupils are still expected to attend school regularly. Rather than keeping your child off school, let us know about your concerns by contacting your child's form teacher, Head of Year, or any of the Attendance Team. You can contact us by phone or through our Synergy Gateway message system. We can then work together on supporting your child.
You can find out how to access a range of mental health support and organisations via this government link:
Mental health resources for children, students, parents, carers and school/college staff - The Education Hub
How can you help your child to attend school and what are we doing to help
If your child is going to be absent, please inform school as soon as possible, and at the latest by 9:15 am, by calling school on 01254 232 992 or via the school’s Synergy system. This message must give the reason for the absence.
Please always make contact with school as soon as possible if you become aware of problems with attendance. We can arrange a meeting and help to discuss the problems before they become real barriers to attending school.
We monitor attendance regularly and we will make contact with you if we believe there is an issue. We also take measures to incentivise attendance, through half-termly rewards for the highest attending form group, and a rewards draw for individual pupils with high attendance throughout each term. Please talk to your child about these initiatives. We welcome feedback on how we can encourage attendance further!
Thank you for helping us to help your child to get the most out of being at St Christopher's.