Attendance
Attendance and Leave
Please be reminded that school attendance is mandatory. It is vital that children are in school, for their educational progress, for their wellbeing, and for their wider development. We continue to work closely with parents to help us to achieve this.
At Blessed Dominic we work hard to:
- Ensure every pupil has access to the full-time education to which they are entitled
- Promote good attendance and reduce absence, including persistent absence
- Act early to address patterns of absence
- Support parents to perform their legal duty to ensure their children of compulsory school age attend regularly, and will promote and support punctuality in attending lessons.
- Please ensure that any holidays are booked during the school holiday period. Holidays during term time will not be authorised.
Exceptional Leave of Absence
Parents/guardians must ask permission, where the situation is exceptional or urgent, for their child to be absent during term time. Headteachers are only empowered to approve a leave of absence when it is requested in advance by the parent or carer with whom the child resides and when the circumstances of the requested leave are ‘exceptional’. If no application is made or leave is taken without permission and there are no exceptional circumstances, a term time holiday is contrary to s.444(1) of the Education Act 1996 and Fixed Penalty Notice can be issued accordingly. Parents wishing to apply for their child to have leave from school should complete a form from the office and return it to school for authorisation at least two weeks before the proposed leave.
Absence Due to Illness
Parents are asked to please telephone school 0208 205 3790 and select option 1, or alternatively you can email attendance@blesseddominic.barnet.sch.uk before 8:50 a.m. to inform us when a child is absent from school due to ill health. If we have not heard from you by 9am, you will be contacted by the school to check why your child is not in school.
Although we appreciate that children can be poorly, if your child’s attendance falls below 90% we are required to ask parents/ carers for medical evidence to authorise absences due to illness.
Studybugs
We have registered our school with Studybugs who will track our Attendance and Punctuality and this will report all data live to Barnet Local Authority. This data is shared instantly and will help Barnet to monitor and track our school’s attendance more closely. This means that Barnet LA will know when children are late or persistently absent. Studybugs continually monitors activity and makes sure those who need to know, do. Real-time alerts enable immediate action to ensure any issues around attendance and punctuality are addressed promptly.
Home Time
Children should be collected at 3.15pm. If your normal collection arrangements fail, please telephone to let us know before the end of the school day.
Who is there to support?
We recognise the need to tackle any issues surrounding attendance and punctuality. We have regular attendance meetings and work closely with Barnet Early help to support families with low attendance and lateness. Low attendance impacts significantly on children's wellbeing and progress.