Attendance
Regular school attendance plays a vital role in children’s wellbeing and their education, ensuring that their current learning needs are being met but also building their future ability to learn.
Some pupils find it harder than others to attend school and therefore at all stages of improving attendance, the school and partners will work with pupils and parents to remove any barriers to attendance by building strong and trusting relationships and working together to put the right support in place.
We recognise the link between regular attendance and the well-being, development and achievement of our students / pupils. We expect everyone to attend every session they are able to, to benefit from the learning and pastoral opportunities and support we offer.
Communication is vital to ensure we are able to work with our parents and pupils and support attendance.
We ask that parents check the contact details, address and emergency contact information held by the school are up-to-date are communicated to school as soon as possible as it is extremely important school can contact parents in an emergency, keep parents informed of events and progress or discuss any concerns at the earliest opportunity.
The School Day
- At Willington Primary School, our staff meet and greet our pupils at the school entrance. This begins at 8:45am each day for all children (reception through to year 6).
- We operate a ‘soft start’- doors are open for 10 minutes at the beginning of the school day (from 8:45- 8:55) to allow pupils time to arrive and settle in class.
- Attendance registers are taken twice once at the start of each morning session and once at the start of each afternoon session.
Start and Finish Times
| Start Time | Entry Point | Finish Time | Exit Point | |
| Early Years: Nursery | 8:45am | Nursery door | 3:00pm | Nursery door |
| Early Years: Reception | 8:45am | Reception door | 3:10pm | Reception door |
| Years 1 and 2 | 8:45am | Key Stage 1 door | 3:15pm | Key Stage 1 door |
| Year 3 | 8:45am | Key Stage 2 door | 3:15pm | Key Stage 1 door |
| Years 4, 5 & 6 | 8:45am | Key Stage 2 door | 3:15pm | Key Stage 2 door |
Registration is at 8:55am. The register will close at 9:05am. Pupils must be in school to be marked present, otherwise another appropriate code will be used.
If your child is late for school:
If your child is late for school:
All children arriving late at school will be asked the reason for their lateness and this will be recorded on our Arbor system. If a child is late (after registers close) for school on a number of occasions, parents/ carers will be contacted, and a concern letter will be sent to you.
If the school continues to have concerns about a child’s punctuality
If concerns about punctuality continue, parents/ carers will be contacted by Mrs Walker who will discuss with you the barriers to attending school on time as well as offer support. If lateness is marked as unauthorised, this could result in a referral to the Local Authority.
If your child is absent from school:
On the first day of absence
If a pupil is to be absent for any reason, parents or carers are asked to contact the school by telephone (01388 746414) providing a reason for the absence. If a pupil is absent from school and there is no contact from parents/carers then school will contact home to find out why the pupil not in school.
Appointments should be made outside of school time where possible. If this is not possible, your child should miss the minimum amount of school time necessary. If they are well enough to come back to school following the appointment they should do.
Periods of extended absence
If a child is expected to be absent for an extended period of time, parents/carers should inform the school on the first day of absence and then update school every 3 days.
No reason for absence provided
If there is no contact from home, school will try to contact all other emergency contacts on file. If unsuccessful, school may carry out a home visit to check on the welfare of a child. If the school do not receive a reason for any absence, it will be recorded as unauthorised. Regular absence and unauthorised absences could result in more formal action.
Where 10 or more unauthorised absences are recorded in any 10-school week period the school must consider whether a penalty notice may be appropriate and if so will refer the matter to the local authority.
Holidays in Term Time
Head teachers are expected to restrict leave of absence in term-time to the specific circumstances in regulation 11 of the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024. There is discretion to consider exceptional circumstances based on the individual facts, circumstances and background behind the request. Permission must be requested in advance by a parent the pupil normally lives with completing the form by completing the leave of absence form (obtained from the school office).
Where a leave of absence is granted, the head teacher will determine the number of days a pupil can be away from school.
A leave of absence is granted entirely at the head teacher’s discretion. If an application is not made for leave then the absence will be recorded as unauthorised regardless of circumstances.
The DfE have stated that generally they do not consider the need or desire for a holiday or other absence for leisure or recreation to be an exceptional circumstance.
An absence request form must be completed for any proposed absence during term time (including family holidays).
Changes to Fixed Penalty Notices from August 2024
In the majority of cases, schools and councils will try and provide support to help you improve your child’s attendance first, but if this is not working to resolve the issues or if support is not appropriate (unauthorised term time holiday), parents and carers may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice.
Under the new national framework, Fixed Penalty Notices will be considered when a child has missed ten or more sessions (five days) for unauthorised reasons in a period of ten school weeks. A notice may also be issued where the five day level of absence has not been reached, for example, if there are several periods of leave.
Notices will be issued in line with the Local Code of Conduct – Penalty Notices for Irregular School Attendance – Local Code of Conduct (PDF, 306 KB).
From August 2024:
- The first penalty notice is £160 if paid within 28 days, reduced to or £80 if paid within 21 days.
- If a parent receives a second notice for the same child within any three year period, the amount of the notice will be £160 to be paid within 28 days.
- A third penalty notice cannot be issued. Legal action may result (for example, prosecution).
Fixed Penalty Notice information for parents and carers (PDF, 133 KB)
Medical Issues and First Aid
We do appreciate the difficulty of arranging medical and dental appointments, but, if at all possible, please arrange non-urgent appointments outside of school times. In cases where children have an important medical or dental appointment during school hours parents must inform school. If children have to leave school during normal school hours then an adult must come to collect them and sign them out. Children will not be permitted to leave school unaccompanied.
Minor injuries will be dealt with in school by a member of staff who is first aid trained. In cases of more serious injury or illness parents will be contacted immediately.
Parents are asked to complete a school medicine consent form if their child needs prescribed medicine during the school day. We are not able to administer non-prescribed medicines.
Attendance Policy
Please view our full Attendance Policy by clicking on the link below.
| Attendance Policies & Documents | Download |
| Attendance Policy | Download |
School Term Dates
Our school holiday dates are listed in the documents below and are available for download:
Please visit the Durham County Council website to view or download the school holidays dates for this academic year and next year for all community schools, special schools and voluntary controlled schools. Please note that voluntary aided (church) schools, foundation schools and academies may have set different dates and you should check with the school or academy to confirm their arrangements or view the PDF for schools not following the standard term and holiday dates.
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