Attendance
At Hetton Lyons Primary School we believe that school attendance is a very important factor in the attainment and life enrichment opportunities available to our pupils and, as such, our Attendance Policy and Attendance procedures reflects this.
If your child is absent from school for any reason it is your duty to contact the school office before 9:30am stating the reason your child is absent. If we do not hear from you, it is our school procedure to telephone families ensuring your child is safe.
Our aim is to expect regular attendance for all pupils. (We recognise that there may be times when there are ocassional problems and we look to work with families to support them.) We aim for all pupils to have an attendance figure of at least 95% and will monitor and use a staged process for any children who fall below this.
We will only accept illness, medical appointments and exceptional family circumstances as absences. Any other absences will be unauthorised.
Punctuality is extremely important and we expect all children to arrive at school before doors and gates are closed.
In 2013 the DfE issued guidance to schools that prevents pupil absence during term time being authorised except in exceptional circumstances. Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) are currently included in the Sunderland City Council’s Attendance Code of Conduct but have not previously been used as a sanction. EHPA was informed on Friday 20th June 2014 that from September 2014 FPNs will be issued to those reaching trigger levels.
We have now updated our policy to reflect these changes. Please read the current policy alongside the Sunderland Code of Conduct and read the Fixed Penalty Notice FAQs for more information.
If there are exceptional reasons ( wedding of a parent, funeral, religious observation, a parent returning from armed services or an exam) to take your child out of school we ask that you fill in our Leave of Absence form and return to the school office.