Attendance

Attendance Information

We are working hard to improve attendance and punctuality as poor attendance and punctuality affect children’s personal, social and academic skills.

We expect all children to arrive on time at 8.40am and attend school every day.

Children only have 190 school days in a school year and there is clear evidence that there is a link between poor school attendance/punctuality and low levels of achievement. We expect all individual pupils to achieve at least 95% attendance.

We want to make sure that it is everyone’s responsibility to encourage good attendance, so we will be keeping you much more informed about how you can support this.

School Timings:

• Gates open at 8.35 am

• Gates close at 8.50 am

• Register is taken and closed at 8.50 am

• Between 8.50 am and 9.20 am marked as late.

• 9.20 onwards you will be marked as Unauthorised Absence for that session.

Absence during term time request

If you would like to request an absence during term time, please fill in the absence request form below a month prior to the absence.

Absence Request Form 2025-2026

Is my child too ill for school?

At Seymour Primary School, we follow the NHS guidelines on illness.

If you’re unsure whether your child should attend school, the NHS provides a very helpful website that breaks down common childhood illnesses and offers clear recommendations.

Is my child too ill for school?

Following this guidance helps us keep all children safe and healthy while ensuring learning continues whenever possible.

Routine medical appointments

Routine appointments, such as doctor, dentist, or optician visits should be arranged outside of school hours wherever possible.

We do understand that some hospital or consultant appointments cannot be changed.

In these cases, please provide evidence of the appointment (such as the appointment letter, email, or a screenshot of the text notification emailed to the office).

Thank you for your support in helping us to minimise disruption to learning.

Attendance insentive so far

How absence can build up

Below is a visual of how absences can add up and how it is calculated.