The Department for Education has launched a national campaign - Moments Matter, Attendance Counts - to remind families of the importance of student attendance at school. The campaign responds to a worrying national increase in student absences.

Research shows that lower attendance leads to lower attainment outcomes for pupils at both Key Stage 2 (Years 3 to 6) and Key Stage 4 (Years 10 and 11), and the statistics are compelling:

• Data from the 2022-2023 academic year for the end of Key Stage 2 shows that 71% of pupils who had 99% attendance or above achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, compared to only 50% of pupils with 90% attendance
• This drops to only 42% of children achieving the expected standards with 85% attendance

While the link between attendance and attainment is clear, absence is not just about exam results. It’s about all the other important moments in school that help shape young people: building positive peer relationships, taking part in extracurricular activities and trips, developing important personal skills and finding a sense of belonging within the school community.

We all have hopes and dreams for our children. But the statistics show young people will only be able to realise their full potential, academically and personally, if they are in school and ready to learn at least 97% of the time. However, it is never too late to benefit from good attendance.

There are times when absence is unavoidable and a student is too unwell to attend. In a post-pandemic world, it’s sometimes difficult to know when children suffering from mild coughs and colds can and should be sent into school. To help parents make an informed decision, please see the https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

Equally, for some families, the challenges around attendance are very real and there are significant barriers preventing children from coming into school. If you are struggling and need support, please contact us directly and we will work with you to put a plan in place.  

Ultimately, as parents and teachers, we all want the best for our children. At Our Lady of Lourdes, we will always strive to place them at the heart of everything we do. Please help us to do our very best for them by ensuring they come to school each day. Thank you for your support.

Attendance in Schools

‘Central to raising standards in education and ensuring all pupils can fulfil their potential is an assumption so widely understood that it is insufficiently stated – pupils need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education. Missing out on lessons leaves children vulnerable to falling behind. Children with poor attendance tend to achieve less in both primary and secondary school’ (Ofsted: 2020)

The government expects Schools and local authorities to:

• Promote good attendance and reduce absence, including persistent absence
• Ensure every pupil has access to full-time education to which they are entitled
• Act early to address patterns of absence.
• Parents to perform their legal duty by ensuring their children of compulsory school age who are registered at school attend regularly.
• All pupils to be punctual to their lessons.

Why is good attendance important?

There are positive benefits to be gained from regular attendance; this includes not only coming to every lesson, but also being there on time. Benefits include the following:

• Building good habits.
• It builds and understanding in young children that getting up and going to a school is simply what you do.
• Children who attend every lesson gain a sense of security as they know what is happening.
•  Young children find it easier to build social relationships when they regularly attend school.
• Regular attendance helps to develop secure attachments with their friends and their school.
• Promotes high Self-esteem and self – confidence.
• Make good, or better progress in school.

Consequences of Poor Attendance

• Children who regularly miss lessons or are generally late, can frequently experience a sense of having to try a little bit harder just to understand what is going on and what other children are talking about or doing.
•  Staff carefully plan every session for each child in their care and want to take every opportunity to help them thrive. Children regularly absent from school miss out on this quality time.
• Experiences gained in one lesson are developed further in the next lesson; therefore regular absences have a detrimental impact on children’s knowledge over time.
• Children learn in many different ways through play with others and through being in the company of staff who actively support their learning and development. 

• Underachievement is often linked to lower attendance. For some older students this is linked to a steadily deteriorating trend in attendance which is traceable right back to their Early Years setting.

It is therefore imperative that your child comes to school every day.  We fully understand that absences related to sickness are inevitable and schools manage these through their school’s Attendance Policy.  This policy also clearly states the limited criteria by which schools will authorise absences.