Attendance

We hope that all our children attend all of their hours, but we know that won't always be the case. Checking on non-attendance is a very important element of safeguarding for us.

Do we have to come to nursery?

• Nursery education is non-statutory, which means that there are no penalties or charges if your child does not attend.

BUT WAIT!

• Once you have registered with us, we have a duty of care to your child and a safeguarding responsibility to make sure they are safe and well. This means that if your child will not be in nursery on any day then you must let us know where they are.

What if I do not inform the school that my child is not in?

• If your child is absent and we do not know why, we will contact you via phone. This will either be a call, a text or both. 
• If we cannot get hold of the first contact after a few attempts, we work our way down your contact list. This helps us to make sure that you and your child are safe and well. 
• In the cases where we are unable to speak to anyone, we will carry out a home visit. 
• If we still do not know that all is well, we will contact the police and Children's Services. 

Isn't that a bit extreme?

• It might seem extreme, but it is necessary. There have been cases in recent years where nursery age children did not attend and were later found at home with a deceased parent. Fortunately these were not at our school. We take the safety of you and your child very seriously.

OK. So how do we let you know?

• If you call us at school, you can press Option 1 to leave us a message about a child's absence. Just tell us their name and why they will not be in. 
• If you know in advance that they will not be in (for a medical appointment, trip or holiday, for example), then either tell your child's key worker or one of the office staff. 

And that's it! Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility, thank you for working with us :)