Attendance 

It is extremely important that children attend school every day and on time, this is to ensure they get the most out of school and their learning. Children have the right to an education and missing out on lessons due to absence and or lateness can cause them to fall behind with their learning, development and social interactions.

We believe that every minute in school counts and is important for the children who attend our school. Being late by 15 minutes every day means missing two weeks of learning in a year which will have a huge impact.

It is very important that your child/ children arrives at school on time. The gates will open at 8.50am each day.

Family holidays, outings and, where possible, medical and dental appointments must be arranged out of school time. Medical/dental evidence must be provided for instances of absence ahead of the appointment where possible.

If, for any reason, your child is late or absent a parent/carer must call the school before 9:00 am to inform us of the reason for the absence and when the pupil will return. If your child is absent for more than a day you must call in everyday they are away from school to update us and keep in contact with the school (on occasion we will request to speak directly to the child to ensure they are ok). If you fail to call in or leave a message via the voicemail system this will automatically trigger our absence follow up protocol.

 Absence follow up protocol

Our Attendance and Welfare Officer will call home to investigate reasons for absence and also offer ways in which to support families where there are difficulties with attendance.  We have a team of staff who also carry out ‘home-visits’ to engage families and explore opportunities to help increase attendance. We work closely with the Tower Hamlets Attendance Welfare Officer (AWA) to support and address where there are concerns around repeated absence, lateness and extended leave. Lateness and absence are closely monitored by the Local Authority.

We are happy that attendance at Arnhem Wharf is continuing to improve and we enjoy celebrating improved attendance each week in assemblies. Please continue to work with us to improve attendance and punctuality across the school.

Extended Leave (Holidays)

Parents are asked to arrange their family holidays within the school holidays, rather than in term time, so that their child’s education is not disrupted.  The school uses the Tower Hamlets guidance on extended leave.  A parent is expected to request permission to take their child on extended leave and this is very rarely granted except in cases with exceptional circumstances.  Parents are informed of the school’s policy on extended leave, and the AWA will follow up on families who take leave, and a Fixed Penalty warning may be issued.

Tower Hamlets Attendance & Welfare

Tower Hamlets Council has an attendance and welfare service which works with pupils up to the age of 16, alongside schools, parents, carers and other public services and voluntary agencies. Our school has an allocated Attendance and Welfare Advisor (AWA) who supports parents and carers to monitor and improve there child’s/children’s attendance.

If you would like to find out more about the service, please visit the Tower Hamlets Website.