Working together to promote good attendance and punctuality

Every Day Counts at Moss Park Primary

We expect all children on roll to attend every day, when the school is in session, as long as they are fit and healthy enough to do so. We do all we can to encourage the children to attend, and to put in place appropriate procedures. We believe that the most important factor in promoting good attendance is development of positive attitudes towards school. Research commissioned by the Department for Education shows missing school for even a few days each year can mean a child is less likely to achieve good grades, which can have a damaging effect on their life chances.

To this end, we strive to make our school a happy and rewarding experience for all children.

Our Class Attendance Champions approach is designed to recognise and celebrate good attendance in a way that is inclusive and fair to all pupils.

Rather than rewarding individual pupils solely on the basis of their attendance, we recognise the class with the highest attendance in the Infants and the class with the highest attendance in the Juniors each week. This means that pupils with additional needs, SEN, medical conditions or other circumstances that may affect their individual attendance are not excluded from recognition or made to feel that their absence is a personal failure.

The class reward also encourages pupils to value the importance of attending school regularly while recognising that attendance is influenced by a range of circumstances. Every pupil is able to contribute to their class's attendance and share in the success of their classmates.

The Class Attendance Champions are announced during our Friday Celebration Assembly. The winning classes keep the attendance trophy for the week and receive a £10 token towards a class end-of-year treat.

We also recognise that attendance achievements may provide an important opportunity for some pupils to experience success and receive recognition for something they have worked hard to achieve. For some children, this may be one of the awards they are able to attain during their time at school, and we believe it is important that this opportunity is available to them.

At the end of each term, we recognise pupils who have achieved 100% attendance by awarding Bronze, Silver or Gold attendance badges. These awards celebrate a specific attendance achievement and are intended to encourage positive attitudes towards regular school attendance.

Attendance at Moss Park Primary is consistently above average. We are now consistent across key stages and we are so proud of our school! We have received several certificates from the Fischer Family Trust (FFT) that recognise our attendance as being in the top 10% of all FFT primary schools and of all FFT primary schools in similar circumstances. This is based on the proportion of FSM pupils from the January 2025 school census.

Handy advice for you is attached at the bottom of the page - a 'traffic light' poster to help you work out if your child is well enough for school, a bite size leaflet that summarises our Attendance and Punctuality policy and guidance on term time absence requests.

At Moss Park, our first aiders are authorised to give pupils non-prescribed medicines such as Calpol (and other brands of paracetamol) to pupils for coughs, colds or minor illnesses. We just ask that your fill in the form. You can find a form attached here, or fill in a paper copy from the office. The Headteacher, Mrs Nunwick and the Attendance Officer, Miss Sherratt, can support you with all aspects of attendance as part of our robust drive to improve attendance.

You can find a range of resource and events to support your child with their social and emotional health, and also bespoke support for parents of children with SEN here: https://padlet.com/TraffordThrive/trafford-thrive-mental-health-and-emotional-wellbeing-p80zkhl6yfggh6mp

We report our attendance data daily to the Department for Education. You can access some advice from the DFE here: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/01/improving-school-attendance/