Attendance

At Bearbrook, we believe that excellent attendance is essential for every child to achieve their full potential. Being in school every day helps children build strong friendships, develop positive learning habits, and make the most of the opportunities we provide.

As part of the Great Learners Trust, we follow the trust‑wide Attendance Policy, available on the Trust website. This ensures a consistent, fair, and supportive approach across all Trust schools.

Reporting Absence

If your child is unable to attend school:

  • Please contact the school office by 9:00am on each day of absence.
  • For unplanned absences (e.g. illness), please let us know the reason.
  • For absences lasting more than 5 days, repeated short absences, or where we have concerns, we may request simple medical evidence (e.g. appointment card, prescription, GP note)

Planned Absence

  • Please arrange appointments outside school hours whenever possible.
  • If during school time, children should miss only the minimum required.
  • Term-time leave must be requested in advance through the office.
  • Term‑time holidays cannot be authorised.
  • The headteacher will approve leave only in exceptional circumstances

Lateness

Arriving on time helps children start the day calmly and ready to learn.

  • Pupils arriving after the register opens will be marked as late.
  • Pupils arriving after the register closes will be marked as unauthorised absence
  • If lateness become a patten, we will work with families to understand the reasons and provide support.

Support for Families

We work closely with parents to improve attendance where needed. Support may include:

  • Individualised attendance plans
  • Pastoral or wellbeing support
  • Adjusted timetables or reintegration plans
  • Meetings with parents to understand barriers
  • Home visits where appropriate

Celebrating Attendance

We celebrate both good and improving attendance to encourage positive routines and promote a happy, motivated school community.

Monitoring Attendance

We review attendance regularly. If concerns arise, we will contact parents/ carers to discuss support and next steps. Persistent absence is followed up according to Trust policy and may involve the County Attendance Team or other agencies where appropriate. We actively support parents and carers in meeting their responsibility to ensure pupils attend school regularly and arrive punctually.

Further Information

For full details, please see the Great Learners Trust Attendance Policy on the Trust website. If you have any questions or need support, please contact the school office — we are always here to help.

Parenting 1a Leaflet

There is no automatic entitlement to time off during term time.

By law, all requests for a leave of absence must be made in writing and in advance of the absence. As a school, we request parents use the ‘Holiday Request Form’ which is available from the school office or from the link below.

We will not authorise holiday or extended leave of absence requests for any circumstance. If you choose to remove your child from school when the request has been denied, or when no request has been made, it will be recorded as unauthorised and the Local Authority may issue a penalty notice against all adults in the home with parental or care responsibilities. Single day absences for unavoidable or emergency situations will be considered on a case by case basis. Please see the school Attendance Policy for details.

Q. What is a good attendance percentage?
A. The school’s attendance target for all our pupils is a minimum of 95%. The national average attendance for a child at primary school is 95%

Q. Why is attendance important?

A. If your child is of compulsory school age and is registered at a school, it is essential that they attend. Excellent attendance at school is important to allow a child to fulfil their potential. We aim to promote genuine love of learning in each and every child fuelled by a curious mind.

Simply put - children who miss lessons don’t do as well as they could.

Q. What is poor attendance?
A. Anything below 95% attendance is worrying as your child has missed more than 9 days of school, resulting in a lower chance of achievement. It makes it harder for the child to progress or keep up if they are missing key learning opportunities.
Q. What impact will low attendance have on my child?

A. Low attendance will impact on your child in many ways; educationally and socially. Pupils who have low attendance are more likely to become isolated from their social group and underachieve academically.

Q. What will happen if my child's attendance falls below 95%?
A. We constantly monitor pupil attendance. You may be sent a letter to inform you of the attendance percentage and you may be invited to a ‘school attendance meeting’ at the school.

Q. Isn't my child entitled to some ‘holiday-days’ a year?
A. No. The School will only consider authorising a one-day absence in very exceptional or unavoidable circumstances. Remember there are 175 non-school days per academic year to spend on family time, visits, holidays and appointments etc.

Q. What is meant by ‘genuine medical reasons’?
A. Diarrhoea, sickness, childhood illnesses e.g. measles, chicken pox, extremely high temperatures, are genuine illnesses. Children should not stay home if they have minor coughs, colds, tummy aches and headaches. If your child is too poorly to remain at the school, the school will contact you to collect them.

If your child has a specific hospital appointment, the appointment letter must be brought into school in advance. However, where possible we ask if you could arrange appointments out of the school day. Please remember that even absence due to genuine medical reasons still affect a child's attendance.

Q. What should I do if my child is absent?
A. Contact the school before 8.45am on the first day and every subsequent day of absence to explain their reasons.

REMEMBER EVERY SCHOOL DAY COUNTS TOWARDS YOUR CHILD'S SUCCESS.

Thank you for your support.