Attendance
At St Werburgh’s C of E Primary, we are committed to ensuring that each of our children gets the best possible start to life. One way that we can do this is through ensuring regular school attendance.
Our attendance policy is rooted in a whole-school ethos that values good attendance, emphasising strong relationships with families, early intervention, and an inclusive environment that supports pupils’ social, emotional, and academic development. Regular attendance is vital for building routines, fostering positive teacher-pupil relationships, preventing knowledge gaps, and ensuring access to education and enrichment opportunities.
We recognise that school attendance plays a key role in shaping academic outcomes, personal development, and prospects; regular school attendance can have a significant impact on:
- Social and Emotional Development: School provides a safe environment for children to develop social and emotional skills, interact and form bonds and attachments. We incorporate social-emotional learning into our curriculum to support the development of empathy, self-awareness, and positive relationships
- Routines: School attendance provides structure and routine. We aim to create a consistent, secure base for our children, where they feel safe, valued, respected, and supported
- Teacher interaction: Regular attendance enables staff and pupils to develop meaningful and productive relationships which support teacher understanding of needs and assessment of progress. By fostering a sense of belonging and trust, we can create an environment where children can develop healthy attachments
- Academic achievement: There is a correlation between regular school attendance and academic outcomes
- Knowledge: School is where children acquire knowledge and skills that are crucial to their growth and development; missing days is missing opportunities.
- Preventing knowledge gaps: Poor school attendance leads to knowledge gaps and pupils can find it difficult to catch up potentially leading to long-term academic difficulties.
- School engagement: Children who attend school regularly are more likely to become involved in extra-curricular and enrichment activities.
- Parent/carer legal responsibility: Parents/carers are legally responsible for ensuring their child’s regular school attendance; failure to do so can lead to legal consequences.
We are an Inclusive Attendance school that prioritises attendance by working closely with families, offering support, and fostering collaboration at all stages.
Our attendance policy can be found here.
Government guidance can be found here.
Contact Information
Email: admin@stwerburghs.derby.sch.uk
Phone: 01332 673827