{"id":20233,"date":"2026-06-25T06:13:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T06:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/futuralearning.co.uk\/schools\/?page_id=20233"},"modified":"2026-06-25T06:13:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T06:13:58","slug":"attendance","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/futuralearning.co.uk\/schools\/willowdown-primary-school\/attendance\/","title":{"rendered":"Attendance"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Attendance<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Attendance<\/h2>

For children to gain the greatest benefit from their education it is vital that they attend school regularly, so all children should be at school, on time, every day the school is open unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable. Regular attendance leads to children making good progress and having high outcomes.\u00a0<\/p>

Attendance is tracked and monitored very carefully and meetings are held regularly to review attendance percentages.\u00a0 The school works closely with our designated Educational Welfare Officer.<\/p>

Children are required to maintain an attendance of 97% and above.<\/strong><\/p>

Ensuring a child’s regular attendance at school is a parent’s legal responsibility and permitting absence form school without a good reason creates an offence in law and may result in prosecution.\u00a0 However, there will be times when absences is unavoidable and acceptable.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

Illness and Medical Appointments<\/strong><\/h3>

Parents\/carers\u00a0must<\/strong>\u00a0contact the school if their child is not able to attend.\u00a0 We have a system in place in which we will contact you by text message if your child is not in school.<\/p>

You can contact the school by phone on 01278\u00a0558758 and leave a message on the pupil absence line at any time or email the school office on\u00a0info@willowdownprimaryschool.org.uk<\/strong><\/p>

If your child has a medical appointment, we ask that you provide the school office with an official letter or proof of the appointment, this will be kept on your child\u2019s records.\u00a0 We would always encourage and prefer appointments to be made out of school time.<\/p>

Term time leave<\/h3>

Term time leave must be requested in writing to the school in advance of the leave via a term time leave request form. Only requests with exceptional circumstances will be considered. Those parents who take their children out of school without prior consent put themselves at risk of receiving a penalty notice.<\/p>

Why Regular Attendance is so Important<\/h3>

Unbroken attendance at school is important for learning. Any absence affects the pattern of a child\u2019s schooling and regular absence will seriously affect their learning. The table below indicates how what might seem like just a few days absence can result in children missing a significant number of lessons.<\/p>
Attendance during school year<\/td>Days lost in a year<\/td>Weeks lost in a year<\/td>Lessons missed in a year<\/td><\/tr>
95%<\/td>9.5 days<\/td>2 weeks<\/td>50 lessons<\/td><\/tr>
90%<\/td>19 days<\/td>4 weeks<\/td>100 lessons<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>

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SCHOOL SNAPSHOT<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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WILLOWDOWN PRIMARY SCHOOL<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Happy Children, Successful Learners, Confident Individuals<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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TELEPHONE<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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01278 558758<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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EMAIL<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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info@willowdownprimaryschool.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Attendance Attendance For children to gain the greatest benefit from their education it is vital that they attend school regularly, so all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"parent":20051,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20233","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-willowdown"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAttendance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/futuralearning.co.uk\/schools\/willowdown-primary-school\/attendance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Attendance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Attendance Attendance For children to gain the 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