Parkfield is proudly recognised as an Inclusive Attendance school. Our unwavering commitment to attendance centres around child-centric actions, evidence-informed practices, and a shared understanding of everyone's roles and collective responsibilities to promote exceptional attendance.

At Parkfield we value the importance of good attendance and punctuality, which as a school we take very seriously. Days off school soon add up and missing lessons makes it hard to catch up resulting in children having to work harder when they come back, even missing vital information that will prevent their progress.

The law does not grant parents an automatic right to take their child out of school during term time. Any absence from school will disrupt your child’s learning. You may consider that a holiday will be educational, but your child will miss out on the teaching that their classmates will receive during your holiday. Attendance is vital to academic success and lost education poses a potential risk of under achievement. This is something we all have a responsibility to avoid.

Although we would love all our pupils to have 100% attendance, our school target is 96% this year and we need your continued support to ensure that we meet this mark.

School attendance is not merely a requirement but a fundamental pillar of education. It plays a pivotal role in shaping academic success, personal growth, and future prospects, making it an indispensable aspect of any educational system. 

•  Academic Achievement: Regular attendance directly correlates with academic success. Children who attend school consistently are more likely to keep up with the curriculum, perform better in exams, and improve their life outcomes.

• Knowledge Acquisition: School is where children acquire knowledge and skills that are crucial for their personal and professional growth. Missing days means missing out on valuable learning opportunities.

• Social Development: School provides a vital social environment for children and adolescents to interact with peers, develop friendships, and learn essential social skills. Consistent attendance ensures children remain connected to their peer group.

• Building Routine: School attendance establishes a structured routine in children’s lives, teaching them time management and responsibility, which are valuable life skills.

• Teacher Interaction: Regular attendance allows for meaningful teacher-child interactions. Teachers can provide personalised support, address questions, and assess individual progress more effectively when children attend regularly.

• Preventing Knowledge Gaps: Frequent absences can lead to significant knowledge gaps, making it challenging for children to catch up with missed lessons, potentially resulting in long-term academic struggles.

• School Engagement: Children who attend school regularly are more likely to engage in extracurricular activities, sports, and other enriching experiences that contribute to their overall development.

• Legal and Parental Responsibility: Parents or guardians are legally responsible for ensuring their child's regular school attendance. Failing to do so can lead to legal consequences.

• Community Well-being: High levels of school attendance contribute to the overall well-being of communities.

The attendance ladder below highlights how only a small number of days can have a significant impact on your child’s level of attendance and learning 

Please note that an up to date attendance policy can be found on our policies page.  

At Parkfield, we love to celebrate excellent attendance!

Our attendance philosophy is rooted in a recognition-based approach that recognises both personal and collective achievements. This approach serves to thwart isolation, prevent victimisation, cultivate positive environments, nurture relationships, foster inclusivity, and ultimately cultivate intrinsic motivation among our children, families, and staff.  

Attendance Recognition Postcards - Weekly

These are awarded to children as a recognition when there has been a demonstrable improvement in their attendance or punctuality.

Class Awards – Weekly
Each week in assembly, we share the percentage attendance for every class. These results are also celebrated in our newsletters, on X, and here on the school website.

• Any class that meets or beats the school’s attendance target earns a star on their Attendance Rocket, designed to motivate and reward consistent, high attendance across all classes. This approach means that every class has the opportunity to earn a reward each time they meet the school’s 96% attendance target (approximately 6 days of lost learning across the week in a class). Each time a class reaches this milestone, they earn a whole-class reward, chosen to be fun, motivating and inclusive. These include:

• Being the DJ for part of a lesson

• A free tuck shop treat

• Being first in for lunch

• Extra break time

• A non-uniform day

Individual Awards – Half-Termly
At the end of each half term, we hold a special attendance celebration and prize draw.

• To qualify, children must achieve 100% attendance during that half term.
  
  

Individual Awards – Yearly
We also recognise outstanding attendance across the whole academic year.

• Children with 100% yearly attendance receive a special certificate, an attendance badge, and a place in our grand prize draw.

Persistent absence is defined by the Government as attendance below 90%. This equates to 19 days or more of absence a year or 100+ lessons missed. If a child’s attendance drops below 90% this could lead to them becoming a safeguarding concern. This could also result in the authority taking legal action against parents, resulting in a fine or court appearance. 

It is really important that children arrive in school on time. Poor punctuality can lead to your child…  

• Feeling embarrassed in front of their friends  

• Missing the beginning of vital lessons making them fall behind  

• Missing important instructions for the rest of the school day 

At Parkfield children are to line up before school on the playground and doors open at 8.45am.  They close shortly after.

If you arrive after the doors are closed you will have to come through the school office.

Arrivals after 9.30am are classed as an unauthorised absence for the morning session.

1. Parents and carers do not have a right to take their child out of school during term-time to go on holiday

2. It is a legal responsibility of a parent or carer to ensure that once their child is of school age, that they attend school

3. If a parent of carer takes their child out of school during term-time to go on holiday, the school will follow the LA's policy on term-time holidays and inform the council of your absence

4. Rochdale Council will then issue you with a fixed penalty notice (fine)

5. In very exceptional circumstances, the Headteacher does have the discretion to authorise term-time holidays. These cases are extremely rare and will normally be linked to occasions such as funerals, marriages or where a family works in an essential service such as the armed forces or for the NHS and can only take annual leave at given times.

In line with the school policy, fines will be issued to families that go on a term time holiday where children miss 5 consecutive full days. Currently the fine is £160 per child per parent which equates to a £640 fine for a two parent family with two children. This is reduced to £320 if paid within 21days. If you are going on holiday due to exceptional circumstances, please speak to the headteacher as a fine may not have to be issued. The image below gives a reminder as to the different levels of fines that can now be issued.

To guarantee a comprehensive approach to attendance, we implement a Multi-Tiered System of Support. A Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) for school attendance involves three tiers of intervention, with roles for teachers, the school, children, parents, and external agencies – including the Local Authority.  Data-driven decision-making and training requirements are pivotal to the implementation of the system.  The system aligns with the Department for Education's (DFE) "Working Together to Improve School Attendance" guidelines.