Click to download the Royal Borough of Greenwich Attendance Letter February 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

I trust this letter finds you well and that your children have enjoyed the half term break and are settling into the new term, with enthusiasm and a desire to learn.

As we head into this new term, I would like to emphasise the importance of good attendance at school. While some children face occasional illnesses or barriers to attending school, maintaining regular attendance is key to ensuring they receive the education and support they need to thrive.

Why is good attendance so important?

1. Learning Consistency: Regular attendance ensures that your child can consistently engage with their teachers and peers, contributing to better learning outcomes.
2. Social Development: School provides a vital environment for children to develop socially, build relationships, and develop interpersonal skills. Missing school can disrupt this crucial aspect of their growth.
3. Academic Progress: Absenteeism can result in missing out on key learning experiences and valuable classroom activities, potentially leading to gaps in your child's knowledge. There is documented data on the correlation between absences, academic achievement and lifelong outcomes.
4. Preparation for the Future: Regular attendance helps your child build a strong work ethic, which is essential for their future endeavours.
5. Sanctions for irregular school attendance. As well as the impact on your children, parents and care givers can face sanctions for not ensuring their children’s regular school attendance. Action, we strive to avoid.

We understand that there can be challenges to ensuring regular school attendance and we are committed to supporting parents/care givers and children to enable regular school attendance. Each school is committed to:

• Providing a clear Attendance Policy, clarifying the school rules regarding attendance.
• Providing guidelines on when it is appropriate to keep a child home due to illness, and when it is safe for them to attend school.
• Supporting with health and well-being concerns; Parents are encouraged to communicate any health concerns promptly. Parents are encouraged to communicate any other issues that are impacting on their ability to ensure regular school attendance, so that supportive measures can be put into place, via school resources, signposting and/or involving or referring to support agencies.
• Schools will work on and review strategies to build the resilience of their students, equipping them to adapt to challenges that may arise during their school journey.

The Local Authority, School staff and teachers are committed to providing the best educational experience for your children. We believe that by working together with parents and care givers, we can create a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment that will enable your child to succeed.

With your support and collaboration in encouraging your children’s good attendance, we can endeavour to ensure they make the most of their learning opportunities and lifelong outcomes.

Kind regards

Florence Kroll Director of Children’s Service