Attendance and Punctuality

Our Expectations – Please refer to our attendance policy

We will monitor attendance levels and support our families to ensure good attendance.
Parents are asked to ensure children do not arrive in the playground before 08.35 hours
Parents are required to ensure that their child attends school regularly and in time for the start of the school day.
Please support the school by ensuring that family holidays take place outside of term time.

The School Day

Be on time for ten to nine!

School starts at 08:50. Children may arrive at school between 08:35 – 08:50 and go straight to class.
EYFS children (those in the two reception classes), should enter the school using their classroom gate. EYFS latecomers must be escorted to the school office by the adult responsible for dropping them off.
The school gates are locked at 08:50 for the safety and security of our children. Any child arriving after this time must be escorted to the school office where the person responsible for dropping them off will be asked to sign the child into the register book.
School finishes at 15.20 for all children.

	Morning	Afternoon
Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Year 6	08:50 – 11:45	12:45 – 15:20
Key Stage 1 ( Years 1 – 2)	08:50 – 12:00	13:00 – 15:20
Key Stage 2 (Years 3 – 5)	08:50 – 12:00	13:00 – 15:20

These hours are subject to review by the Governing Body

Children in Years 5 & 6 can walk home from school on their own if their parents have completed and returned the permission form, available from the school office.
Please inform the school office if someone else will be collecting your child.
Children can only be collected at the end of the school day by a family member under 18 provided that the school office has been notified in writing in advance of any such collection and that the person collecting is in Year 9 or above. Such collections are not permitted during the school day, when a child must be collected by an adult over 18 years.
If an adult is not waiting for a child they will be escorted to the school office by their class teacher at 15:30 where the school admin team will contact families to assist every child in getting home safely.
Both the breakfast and after school club are run by ZigZags and this organisation has their own arrangements for the safety of children at the beginning and end of the school day. Please see the supervisors for this information. Contact details: Phone 07850509701 Email: zigzagchildcare@gmail.com

What to do if your child is late, ill or has a medical appointment?

Late

The gates are locked at 08:50 for the safety and security of our children. If you are late you will need to enter through the main pedestrian security gate, which will be opened by the office staff once you announce your arrival on the key-pad intercom. Late attendees are always brought to the attention of the Headteacher. Persistent lateness is always monitored by the Family Welfare officer (FWO)

Illness

If your child is absent you need to let us know. A telephone call, email (to attendance@arunside.school) or personal contact will be sufficient. Regular, unexplained absence through illness will involve the AWO, so please get in touch promptly and explain the reason for the absence.

If your child has sustained an injury which necessitates the use of crutches, the school will require a letter from a medical professional (GP, Hospital etc) before the pupil is admitted back into school. The letter should detail what injury has been sustained and provide information on whether or not the pupil is required to use the crutches in school along with an indication of how long this need is likely to last. Information on when weight bearing should begin and the dates of any follow up appointments should also be included in the letter. We thank you for your support in this matter.

Appointments

A request for a child to leave school to attend a medical or dental appointment will be granted. Where possible appointments should always be made outside of school hours. Children who need to leave the school during the school day for an appointment must be collected and signed out from the main office entrance by a responsible adult.

Absence and Holidays During Term Time

Parents are advised that is now against the law to take family holidays in term time. Penalty Notice Fines are issued where family holidays are taken in school time.
The Headteacher can, in exceptional circumstances, authorise absence from school but this does not apply to family holidays taken in term time or family weddings abroad.
Holidays requested at the beginning of any new term or during SATs periods can not be authorised for any reason. This follows the Local Authority Policy on attendance in school. Where unauthorised absence is taken, a fixed penalty notice of £60 can be issued (Section 444(a) of the Education Act 1996 empowers the local authority to issue Penalty Notices to parents/carers)