As you already know, at Ryecroft Academy we are committed to providing a broad, balanced and effective education for all of our children. For our children to gain the greatest benefit from their education it is important that they are in school, on time, every day that school is open unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable. We believe that regular attendance is of the greatest importance so that children:
- Have full access to the curriculum and are more likely to achieve well and leave school with the vital skills and knowledge they need for their future lives
- Are able to build positive relationships and develop social skills which prepare them for the next phase in their education
- Are able to develop their self-esteem, their sense of worth and sense of belonging
- Are able to develop a positive attitude to school and the world of work, understanding how important it is to be punctual and reliable
As a school we have extensive rewards and incentives to celebrate and promote children’s attendance with individual, class and whole school rewards. This represents a significant investment for the school, however, we see this as being a really important part of our work; every day matters! We do consider the circumstances of individuals and take them into account when rewarding children’s attendance, for example, absences that are as a result of medical issues, to ensure that all children are rewarded fairly. As parents, however, we would urge you to think about the ‘real prize’ of maintaining excellent attendance as we have explained above; these reasons need to remain at the centre of our thinking. Please could we ask for your full support in ensuring your child / children maintain excellent attendance and punctuality? Thank you for your support with this.
Our school gates are open at 8:40am and close at 8:55am to support you getting your child to school on time. If your child arrives after this time, they are late. If you require any support with getting your children to school on time or their attendance, please contact Mrs Hodgkin, our Family Support Worker, who will be happy to help.
Punctuality
Being late for school makes it hard for your child to learn. If they are 30 minutes late each day it means they are missing a half day of school every week. If your child is late by 10 minutes a day he or she will miss the equivalent of one week’s learning in a year. Please ensure that your child is always punctual.
School starts at 8:45am. Please aim to arrive at school 5 minutes before this time to reduce any anxiety of being late.
Your child will be marked late if they do arrive at school on time.
If we have concerns over your child’s attendance we will take steps to support you to ensure their attendance rapidly improves. This support could be telephone calls to parents, letters sent to parents, meetings held at school with our attendance officer and members of the Senior Leadership Team. If attendance continues to be of a concern there is a potential for a referral to the FastTrack Initiative. This ultimately could result in prosecution in the Magistrates’ Court and the receipt of a Parenting Order or a fine of up to £2,500 for each parent or carer. Please see our attendance policy for further details.
Contact numbers
Please contact school before 08:45am on the first day of absence and each subsequent day your child is absent on 0113 7330 129 option 1
Attendance Rewards
| WEEKLY | HALF TERM | TERM | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attendance Points
If your child has 100% attendance and arrives at school, on time, every day they will receive 1 Attendance Point. |
Attendance Points
If your child has 100% attendance and arrives at school, on time, every day for a whole half term they will receive an extra 5 Attendance Points. |
Attendance Points
If your child has 100% attendance and arrives at school, on time, every day for a whole half term they will receive an extra 5 Attendance Points. |
100% attendance
If your child has maintained 100% attendance for the whole year we will send your child a 100% attendance postcard. |
| Class Champion
If your child’s class has the highest attendance, the class will receive the Ryecroft Attendance Trophy and a reward from our Golden Time Menu. |
Improved Attendance
If you have supported your child in improving their attendance, we will acknowledge this by sending you a ‘thank you’ postcard. |
Improved Attendance
If you have supported your child in improving their attendance, we will acknowledge this by sending you a ‘thank you’ postcard. |
Proud Jar lollipop stick
If your child has maintained 100% attendance for the whole year they will receive a Lollipop Stick for their Proud Jar. |
| Above 97% attendance
If your child has above 97% attendance for the whole half term we will send you a ‘thank you’ postcard. |
Attendance Trophy
If your child has maintained 100% attendance for the whole year we recognise this by presenting them with their own Attendance Trophy at the Pride of Ryecroft Awards. |
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| 100% attendance
If your child has maintained 100% attendance for the whole term we will send your child a 100% attendance postcard. |
