Attendance at St Joseph's

We care, we belong, we learn together in faith.

Because we are one family, every child's place with us matters, and when a child is not in school, they are missed. Coming to school every day, on time, gives children the best chance to learn, keep their friendships and enjoy everything school offers. If something is making it hard for your child to attend, please tell us early. We would much rather help than wait.

By law, parents must make sure their child attends school regularly once they reach compulsory school age, which is the start of the term after their fifth birthday.  Reception children to come to school every day too, so that good habits start early.

Our school day

Time	What happens
8.00am	Breakfast club opens (£1 until 8.20am)
8.20am	Breakfast club is free for all children
8.45am	Morning register. Children arriving after this are late
9.15am	Morning register closes. Children arriving after this are marked absent for the morning
12.45pm	Afternoon register
1.15pm	Afternoon register closes
3.15pm	School finishes
4.30pm	After school club finishes

Breakfast club and after school club do not count towards attendance.

If your child is ill or absent

Please contact Mrs Skelton in the school office before 8.45am on the first day of absence, and each day after that if your child is still off. You can phone 01946 810702, email admin@st-josephsrc.cumbria.sch.uk, Classdojo, or tell us in person.

If we have not heard from you, we will contact you on the first morning to make sure your child is safe. If we cannot reach you or your emergency contacts, we may carry out a home visit. Please keep at least three emergency contacts up to date with the office.

If your child is too unwell to be in school, the absence will usually be authorised. Where illness is complex, long-term or keeps recurring, we may ask to talk with you about it, or ask for medical evidence such as an appointment letter or prescription. This is so we can record absence accurately and put the right support in place. The NHS guide Is my child too ill for school? can help you decide.

Arriving late

Children arriving after 8.50am are marked late. Please come to Reception, so we can register your child. Children arriving after 9.15am are marked absent for the morning, which counts as an unauthorised absence unless there is a good reason.

Five minutes late every day adds up to almost two and a half days of learning lost over a school year. If lateness becomes regular, we will talk with you first and offer help. If it continues, we will write to you and invite you to meet the headteacher and our attendance governor.

Medical and dental appointments

Please try to book appointments outside school hours, or at the very start or end of the day. If that is not possible, let the office know in advance and bring your child in before or after the appointment, so they miss as little as possible.

If your child needs to leave during the school day, they must be collected by a parent or named carer, and the school office must be told.

Leave of absence in term time

Parents do not have a legal right to take children out of school in term time. If you have an exceptional reason, please complete a Leave of Absence form before making any arrangements. You can get a paper form from Mrs Skelton or use our online form.

By 'exceptional' we mean something you could not control or did not expect, such as a bereavement or a serious family crisis. We consider every request individually, and the headteacher decides how many days, if any, can be authorised. Leave cannot be authorised after it has been taken. Holidays will not be authorised unless an exceptional circumstance also applies. We are especially unlikely to agree leave during the first half term of the year or assessment weeks.

Absences we cannot authorise include:

• keeping a child off school without a good reason;
• shopping, birthdays or looking after other children;
• day trips or holidays that have not been agreed by the school.

How we help

• We look at attendance every week, so we can spot early when a child is finding it hard and talk with you.
• We work with you to remove barriers, including reasonable adjustments for children with special educational needs, disabilities or medical conditions, and support for young carers.
• Every half term we email you an attendance report showing the days your child has missed and a week-by-week picture.
• When we write about attendance, we talk about the days and learning missed, not just percentages.

If attendance falls

Attendance	What it means over a year	What we do
96% or above	Fewer than 8 days missed	Celebrate and keep it going
Below 96%	8 days or more missed	We send a letter so you know, and offer help
Below 90% (persistent absence)	19 days or more, nearly four school weeks	We monitor closely for a half term and invite you to a meeting to agree support
Below 50% (severe absence)	Absent more often than present	We meet with you straight away and agree a joint plan with Cumberland Council

Did you know? 90% attendance sounds high, but it means missing about half a day of school every week. Over five years at primary school, that adds up to half a school year.

If support is not working, we may agree a formal attendance contract with you, and we work with Cumberland Council's Access and Inclusion team.

Penalty notices

We always try support first. Under the national rules, a penalty notice must be considered when a child has 10 sessions (usually 5 school days) of unauthorised absence in any 10 school weeks. You would usually receive a Notice to Improve before any penalty notice.

• First penalty notice: £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days, rising to £160 within 28 days.
• Second penalty notice within three years: £160 per parent, per child.
• After that, the case may go to the Magistrates' Court.

We follow Cumberland Council's Local Code of Conduct for penalty notices, which is on the Cumberland Council website.

Celebrating good attendance

Children earn rewards in class every day for being in school and on time.  We never penalise children who cannot attend because of illness or medical needs, and we make sure they feel included.

Who to contact

For	Contact
Reporting absence, lateness, appointments and leave forms	Mrs Skelton, school office: 01946 810702, admin@st-josephsrc.cumbria.sch.uk
More support with attendance	Miss Annette Savage, Headteacher and Senior Attendance Champion, via the school office
Attendance governor	Mrs Rebecca Rennoldson, via the clerk: clerk@st-josephsrc.cumbria.sch.uk

Thank you for working with us to help every child at St Joseph's be here, be on time and make the most of every day.

Documents

• Attendance Policy and Procedures 2026–27 (PDF)
• DfE: Working together to improve school attendance