"Helping every child achieve their best"

Why Attendance Matters:

Regular attendance is essential for children’s learning and wellbeing. Missing school means missing key lessons, social opportunities and important milestones. Good attendance builds strong routines, supports academic success and helps children develop confidence in their learning.

What Does Attendance Percentage Mean?

• 90% Attendance – This means your child has missed the equivalent of one day every two weeks, adding up to about four weeks of learning in a school year. This is categorised as Persistently Absent.
   

• 50% Attendance – This means your child has missed half the school year, which can severely affect their progress and friendships. This is categorised as Severely Absent.  

How We Celebrate Attendance:

Daily Fun with Mr Potato Head
Each day, we celebrate attendance by adding a piece to Mr Potato Head - a playful way for children to see their collective progress. Once Mr Potato Head is complete, the class earns a reward time as a celebration of their hard work and teamwork.

Weekly Rewards
We make attendance fun and rewarding! Every week, the class with the highest attendance percentage win our attendance mascots to keep in their classroom. This friendly competition motivates everyone to come to school every day.

Our System to Support Families:

• If a child’s attendance drops beneath 90%, our school office will phone home to check in, offer support and work in partnership with you to identify any barriers that may be affecting attendance.

• If attendance improves, this success will be warmly celebrated and shared with you and your child as we truly value and recognise the effort it takes to get things back on track.

• If attendance continues to decline, we will follow this up, ensuring that together we explore further ways to help your child have the best possible chance to succeed.

Reporting Absences

If your child is unwell or unable to attend school, please ensure you call the school office by 8:40 a.m. or send an email to admin.office@abbsch.co.uk on the same morning. When reporting an absence, we ask that you provide a full explanation for the reason your child is away so we can accurately record it and offer any support your child may need on their return. Prompt communication helps us safeguard all pupils and keep our records up to date.

Together, We Can Make Every Day Count!

By ensuring your child attends school regularly, you’re giving them the best chance to succeed - academically, socially and emotionally.

 

Click here for our Attendance Policy

Family holidays/school holidays (and Penalty Notices)

Children have 13 weeks annual holiday from school and school holiday dates are published well in advance online. As such, all parents/carers are expected wherever possible to plan and take their family holidays at this time so as not to disrupt their children’s education.  Only in exceptional circumstances may a headteacher grant permission for leave and it is the headteacher's decision on whether the absence is exceptional and how many days to approve.

Parents/carers who take their child out of school without the absence being agreed and authorised by written permission from the school can be issued with a penalty fine. 

Request to authorise absence from school due to exceptional circumstances

Useful Information

Hampshire Guidance on Penalty Notices

Code of Conduct - Issuing Penalty Notices for unauthorised absence from school

Joint Attendance Letter - Guidance for Absence and Lateness

Should your child go to school today - Guidance for parents when a child is unwell

Further information on whether your child should go to school - Hampshire