Castleford Park Junior Academy
Castleford Park Junior Academy
You are here: About Us - Attendance
| Year 3 | 95.2% |
| Year 4 | 95.4% |
| Year 5 | 95.3% |
| Year 6 | 96.3% |
Our school is open from 8:45am and finishes at 3.05pm
Registration starts at 8:55am.
Morning Break 10.25-10.40am
Lunch – 1st sitting 12pm -12.45pm
Lunch – 2nd sitting 12.30pm -1.15pm
Total school hours per week is 31.25hrs
Attendance at school is a statutory requirement and students are expected to have a good standard of attendance. Parents and carers have a legal responsibility to ensure their children attend school and we would like to support you in doing this. Any absence from school is detrimental to a child’s education and progress.
At Castleford Park Junior Academy, we aim to work hard with parents to ensure children can attend school as often as possible. Where there is regular absence, they are missing vital parts of their learning! Every lost day is a day where they could have spent time being read with; working on their mental maths; mastering a new skill that could become a future passion; and enjoying time with their friends.
Even missing one week is 25 hours of lost learning that has to be caught up in order for your child to reach their potential.
| Descriptor | Threshold Attendance | Actual Attendance | Whole Days Absent | Learning Hours Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | 100% | 190 days | 0 | 0 |
| Excellent | 99% | 188 days | 2 | 10 |
| Good | 98% | 186 days | 4 | 20 |
| Good | 97% | 184 days | 6 | 30 |
| School Target | 96.% | 182.5 days | 7.5 | 37.5 |
| Cause for Concern | 95% | 180.5 days | 9.5 | 47.5 |
| Cause for Concern | 94% | 179 days | 11 | 55 |
| Cause for Concern | 93% | 177days | 13 | 65 |
| Cause for Concern | 92% | 175 days | 15 | 75 |
| Cause for Concern | 91% | 173 days | 17 | 85 |
| Cause for Concern | 90% | 171 days | 19 | 95 |
| Critical cause for concern that could lead to further serious investigation | 89% | 169 days | 21 | 105 |
School doors open at 8:45am and we expect children to be on time. Children arriving after 9:05 am are considered absent for that period – which will mean an unauthorised late mark is recorded if the absence is unexplained.
Some absences are unavoidable – usually due to illness, bereavement or difficult family circumstances. School are committed to supporting parents as well as they can in these situations and would encourage parents to discuss this with us. Decisions to authorise absence lie with the Headteacher and requests for authorised absence should be made by completing an exceptional circumstances request form.
Medical and dental appointments should be made for after school, or during school holidays wherever possible but we do understand this isn’t always achievable. A medical card or letter should be brought into school to verify the appointment if it is within school time.
There are times when children are absent for reasons which are not permitted by law. These are unauthorised absences. Examples of absence such as: waiting in for a delivery; going on a family day out; sleeping in after a late night; going shopping or for a haircut; taking a day off for a birthday in term time; holidays in term time; are not permitted and are classed as an unauthorised absence.
School have a statutory duty to follow up any absence that is unexplained. If you fail to contact school to let us know where your child is, school may be required to do a home visit, or contact other members of your family to verify that you and your family are safe. If we feel your child, or your family is vulnerable and we cannot establish contact, we may have to contact the Police or Social Services. School has a duty to ensure that pupils are appropriately safeguarded whilst in their care and are given their entitlement of a full time education. This includes working with the Local Authority to ensure that no pupil remains ‘missing in education’ for a period of time.
There have been several high profile cases where families –and children- have been in danger at home and unable to get help. We would not want to leave a member of our school community in such dangerous circumstances when we could have helped.
Successfully treating the root causes of absence and removing barriers to attendance at home, in school or more broadly, requires schools and local partners to work collaboratively with, not against families. We will work hard to support parents to improve attendance, listen and understand the barriers that families are facing and will help wherever we can whilst continuing to communicate high expectations for attendance as we know that this is what ultimately improves academic achievement and resilience for pupils.
We have created a parent guide with ‘Frequently asked Questions’ about attendance to help parents understand how school and other services can help when attendance may be difficult:
If your child is struggling to come to school, they may be experiencing ’emotional based school avoidance’. See the attached guidance which explains how school would support parents with this:
If you need to ask for authorised leave from the Headteacher, please complete an exceptional circumstances request form. A blank copy can be downloaded below, or can be taken from the letter rack in reception.
Thank you as always for your cooperation and support.
Please contact the school office if you have any questions, or require further clarification.
Links in the About Us Section