It is proven that children who attend school regularly are more likely to be successful in school and hence in life. At Hayfield Lane Primary we want every child to achieve their true potential and supporting children and families to achieve GOOD attendance levels is our priority. Our children deserve nothing but the best chances in life!

Our school attendance target is 97% and our children work hard to reach this. We are aware that children may fall ill from time to time, which cannot be helped, however we understand that high rates of absence/persistent absence can reduce our children's chance of success.

We teach our children to be punctual from a young age which is important as this is an expected life skill- we expect shops, doctors and other places to be open when we expect them to be.  School begins at 8:55 am and as soon as the children enter the classroom, they start their learning. Learning challenges are set whilst the registers are being taken and children are supported to examine previous work during this time. If a child is regularly late, they are quickly at a significant disadvantage and will miss out on valuable learning.

Lateness also adds up:

Minutes late per day                   Learning Time lost over the year

5 mins                                                          3.4 days

10 mins                                                         6.9 days

15 mins                                                         10.3 days

20 mins                                                        13.8 days

30 mins                                                        20.7 days

Data indicates that children who are persistently late do not make the same degree of progress. We work with parents to unpick if there are any barriers affecting attendance and work together to improve the situation. We continue to support poor/late attenders via our Family Support Team (phone calls), Attendance Support Plan meetings with the Head or support from the Education Welfare Officer from Doncaster Local Authority.

Together we can make a difference for our children. When we have good attendance our children can BELIEVE AND ACHIEVE. Every child deserves the very best start in life and they will only get this with good attendance.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE FORMS ( previously known as holiday forms)

Information regarding LEAVE OF ABSENCE criteria and the forms required are available on the SCHOOL OFFICE section of the website. Please remember that forms should be submitted 3 weeks in advance and that if the strict criteria (Government guidance) is not met then the school has no other option other than to refer the matter to the Local Authority who may issue a EDUCATION PENALTY NOTICE. Our Attendance Policy gives clear information about this and can be found in the POLICIES section of the website.

Parents needing to submit supporting evidence for the criteria should speak directly to the Head teacher , Mrs Tempest.

Thank-you.