Attendance
Why Attendance Matters
Attendance and Punctuality are extremely important at Springfield Primary School. Studies show that a child who attends school regularly and on time, has a higher chance of retaining learning and making excellent progress. Being at school every day also gives children the opportunity to build and maintain social and emotional skills, friendships and also provides them with routine and structure to their daily life.
Arrival at School
Are you a HERO ?
At Springfield we encourage all children to become a HERO (Here Everyday Ready On-time).
Being on time and ready to learn is detrimental to children’s routine and well-being. Children thrive when they have structure and a good daily routine. It’s also important for children to be on time for learning.
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Class
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Start time
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Finish Time
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Reception
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8.55am door closes at 9.05am
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3.15pm door closes at 3.25pm
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Y1
Y2
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8.50am door closes at 9.05am
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3.10pm door closes at 3.20pm
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Y3
Y4
Y5
Y6
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8.45am door closes at 8.55am
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3.15pm door closes at 3.20pm
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Attendance & Punctuality
Springfield is unique. We have families who originate from all over the world and many come to Sheffield to study away from their home countries. We have over 30 different languages at Springfield! This means our wonderful and experienced staff adapt learning to suit all the children who attend Springfield. With this in mind attendance and punctuality is something we strive to make on target. Attendance is monitored daily and analysed every half term and if your child’s attendance is below 93.8% (our school target set by the Local Authority) we will contact you via telephone or letter to see if there are any barriers that your child or family need help o support with. We will then work together to improve your child’s attendance over the next half term. If school support is not successful in improving attendance we may ask Attendance Officers from the Local Authority to step in and support.
If a child misses just 2 days per month they will likely fall behind in their development and find it difficult to catch up on missed learning. Please see below a diagram of how absence can affect your child’s learning and development
Please see the graph below on how punctuality affects learning:
Take a look at our diagram that breaks down the support Springfield Primary School offers in improving attendance if it is below 93.8%
Rewards
At Springfield we understand the impact good attendance and punctuality has on our children’s learning and we believe in rewarding good attendance and punctuality to engage and motivate our children. We have many initiatives to support and celebrate attendance and punctuality so that it remains a high profile in school and with our families. Here are a few of the reward systems we have in place:
Weekly certificate for most improved attendance
Reward for 100% attendance
Termly prize draw for attendance
Special mentions/ playtime rewards
Holidays and Term-Time Leave
Holidays in term time are not usually authorised. This is because it’s very important that your child attends school every day. Taking children out of education for any length of time is damaging to their education and therefore should be avoided. If you do make the decision to take your child away in school time you would need to fill in a form and provide a copy of flight tickets- out-going and return – and then hand it in to the school office at least 20 days before your holiday. This is so we can process the paperwork and update our systems in regards to your child not attending school for that period. We also have to notify the Local Authority of this who will then decide if you will receive a Fixed Penalty Fine.
We understand that family circumstances and family time are important. However, with Springfield Primary being so diverse with families originating from different countries from all over the world, we always put the children’s best interest first, which means not authorising holidays in term time, encouraging all families to take family time and trips abroad in school holidays.
Click the link to be taken to forms Term Time Leave request
Is my child too ill for school? 
At Springfield we understand that children become ill. We do our very best to support families with this. We ask if your child is too poorly to attend school that you call us on the first day of illness and inform us the reason why your child will not be attending. Mrs Crocker, our Learning Mentor, will then record this on our systems. If you do not call school then Mrs Crocker will call you to ask for the reason why your child is not in school. If you need any help or support with attendance Mrs Crocker is in school every day for you to speak to.
Not sure if you should send your child to school? Please take a look at this link which gives you guidance on this:
Click here to be taken to advice on illness and when to keep child off school
Minor illness
If your child has a headache or a cold we can manage this at school. We do not authorise missing a full day’s learning for a slight fever, headache, cough or a cold. Pain medication can be given at home in the morning and then school can monitor your child throughout the day.
Click the link to be taken to Sheffield City Council website Attendance information pages School attendance matters - Sheffield City Council
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