School Procedures and communication

Every School Day Matters at Penn Wood School and Nursery

We look forward to working in partnership with you to ensure your child reaches their potential.

If your child is not going to be in school please call the office on 01753 521811 or email the school via the ParentMail app.

Please do this before 9am on the first day of their absence, and every subsequent day they are off.

If we have not heard from you by 9.30am then we will start to contact you. This will be a text message or in some cases a phone call. If we have not heard from you the absence will be unauthorised. It is vital that all contact information is up to date.

If your child is absent from school for more than three days, or is often absent for short periods, the school will ask for supporting evidence to confirm the absence.

If we have not heard from you after 3 days a home visit may be made.

What happens if my child's absence is of concern?

If your child's attendance falls to 92 percent, you will receive  communication 1. This is to alert you that attendance is of concern, and is for information only. The letter also has documents outlining how parents can work with the school and their child to improve attendance. (You can find further information on our Parent Padlet)

If your child takes too much time off school, they will become categorised as persistently absent.

Missing school has a major impact on your child’s development and success. You will  receive communication 2 and be invited to meet with Mrs Wallace and Mrs Dannatt, so we can work together to formulate a plan to ensure better attendance. Attendance will be monitored until an improvement seen.

If attendance does not improve after this time, you will be required to attend a School Attendance Panel meeting. If you are unwilling to cooperate, the meeting will go ahead as planned and the targets will be sent to you.

After the two-week monitoring period, and if targets are met, a letter will be sent home from the SLT to congratulate the improved attendance. Monitoring and communication will continue until attendance stabilises.

If targets are not met a further two-week monitoring period is established and, if there are no improvements, a final written warning will be issued to the parents, explaining the procedures for a fixed penalty notice.

From time to time we will email or text parents with some reminders about attendance.  You can see examples under 'nudge communication'.