Attendance

“Regular and punctual attendance is vital to good learning”

Regular and punctual attendance is vital to good learning and is, therefore, given very high priority at Oswald Road. A positive attitude toward punctuality is an invaluable life skill and a large part of a positive attitude towards learning. Although we are sympathetic to individual family circumstances, we must also be conscious of the impact lateness and absences have on your child’s ability to realise their potential. Our minimum expectation for attendance is 96%.

Amy Nelson manages our day to day attendance and punctuality.  Any absences should be reported through the School Spider app. Please do so by 9:00am on the day of absence.

For consecutive days of absence we require regular updates, please contact the school, unless you have been advised not to by our Attendance Team.

Email:
attendance@oswaldroad.manchester.sch.uk

Attendance Support Plans

As a school, we understand there are differing reasons why a child’s attendance may fall to a certain percent and as such, we offer different ways to support you and your family.  Our approach as a school is to consider attendance data weekly and to implement Attendance Support Plans, where appropriate, which allows us to tailor support on a family by family basis.

There are times that a percentage is lower for a reason that would not require an Attendance Support Plan, for example one unauthorised extended leave which has been issued a Penalty Notice with otherwise good attendance or child needing a stay in hospital etc. The reasons for absence are always considered when analysing the attendance data. The attendance team considers each child as an individual and then implements support for the family, tailored to the child’s needs. If appropriate the school will put a ‘monitoring’ phase in ahead of implementing an Attendance Support Plan.

Once an Attendance Support Plan is in place, the school will continue to monitor the child’s attendance and punctuality and implement each step of the plan where appropriate. Please see the School Attendance Policy for further information on the steps involved with these plans.

If you feel your family needs extra support to ensure your child is attending school or getting here on time, you can apply for an Early Help assessment. Please click here for more information.

Click here to take a look at a typical ‘Day in the Life Of’ our Attendance Officer, Amy to you can see how we manage attendance and family support on a daily basis.

Requests for absence during term time

The law gives no entitlement to parents to take their child out of school during term time.  Any application for leave must only be in exceptional circumstances.  A term time holiday would not be classed as exceptional.

If the request is denied, the school will inform the parent/carer. If the parent/carer chooses to continue with the planned holiday it will be taken as an unauthorised absence. This will then be referred to the Local Authority who will decide on the course of action to be taken. 

A Penalty Notice may be issued by the Local Authority following your child’s absence.  Penalty notices are issued at £80 per parent (if paid within 21 days) and £160 (if not paid within 28 days) for each child.  If you do not notify us but we have reason to believe that your child has been on holiday, a fixed penalty fine may still be issued.

The law on attendance changed on 19th August 2024. The law is very clear that attendance at school is a right of every child and where a parent fails to meet this requirement statutory action will be taken.

You can download our Guide to Good Attendance here.

Click here to see our School Attendance Policy

Click here to see our Term Dates 2024-25

Click here to view ‘A Parent’s Guide to Managing Sickness Absence from School’.

If your child is unwell and you are unsure whether or not they can come to school, click here.

Click here to view Attendance Guidance for Parents, which answers many FAQs about attendance.

• Our gates are open between 8.30am and 8.45am for drop-off and between 3.00pm and 3.25pm for end of the day pick-up.
• Registration starts at 8.45am. If you miss the gate, please enter school via the office. Anyone arriving after 8:55am will be marked as late.
• Anyone arriving after 9.15am will receive a U mark on the register, which counts as an unauthorised absence mark for the morning. This will affect your child’s overall attendance percentage.
• It is important that parents/carers use the School Spider app to inform school if their child is going to be absent informing us of a reason. You are required to contact us every day your child is absent unless you have been advised by the Attendance Team not to.
• School holidays in term time, in line with government ruling, will not be authorised unless under exceptional circumstances. Schools are in session 190 days of the year, leaving 175 days (plus weekends) for any trips, visits, appointments or family holidays.
• Parents/Carers will be contacted directly if attendance or punctuality are an area of concern.
• Parents will need to provide valid reasons for an absence to be authorised.
• If your child needs to attend an urgent appointment, please provide proof of the appointment either by emailing a copy of the letter or bringing it to the office. Where possible, please make appointments outside of school hours.

% Attendance during one school year	Equals days absent	Which is approximately weeks absent	Which means this number of lessons missed
95%	9 Days	2 Weeks	40 lessons
90%	19 Days	4 Weeks	80 lessons
85%	29 Days	6 Weeks	120 lessons
80%	38 Days	8 Weeks	160 lessons
75%	48 Days	10 Weeks	200 lessons
70%	57 Days	11.5 Weeks	230 lessons

GOOD TIME KEEPING MEANS…

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… making sure your child is at school and ready to learn, before lessons begin!

Did you know?  Being 15 minutes late each day is the same as missing two weeks of school.

Every school day counts….But every minute is equally important!