Attendance

School attendance is a very important part of your child's educational experience.  Regular attendance promotes pupils' well-being and gives them the best chance of learning and reaching their potential. 

Why is good attendance important?

We know that good attendance is important because pupils: 

• get on better with learning and with their peers
• cope better with school routines, work and friendship
• find learning easier because they do not have gaps in their learning
• are more successful moving between primary school, secondary school, higher education and beyond
• are known to be safe and well by us

How does school monitor attendance?

Our attendance team monitor attendance daily.  Where attendance falls below acceptable levels, we contact parents to support them by discuss any problems that may be causing issues with attendance.  We are eager to work with and support families.  We encourage parents to talk to school about any barriers they have to ensuring their child attend regularly.  We work alongside the Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) at ELAN to continuously improve attendance across the school.  

What if my child is unwell?   

If your child is sick and cannot attend school, you should contact school as soon as possible to report the absence. This can be done by phone on 01934 822867 or by email to office@locking.extendlearning.org. You need to ring or email every day that your child is absent from school. There is further guidance at the bottom of this page regarding common childhood illnesses and the NHS guidance as to how long children should remain off school for. 

What if my child has a medical appointment? 

If your child will be absent for a medical appointment, please let us know in advance, showing the office a copy of the appointment letter/email/text which confirms the appointment. Routine appointments (such as dental check-up, opticians reviews etc.) should be made outside of school hours. 

What are unauthorised absences?
If your child does not arrive before the registers close at 9.15am and we have not already heard from you regarding the absence, we will record this as unauthorised absence. Without notification from parents/cares, an absence from school has to be recorded as unauthorised. 

Request for a Leave of Absence

Locking Primary School, along with all of the ELAN schools, has adopted national guidelines on parents requesting leave of absence for their child. For more information regarding this, please ask at the school office.