Saviour CofE Primary School

Attendance & Punctuality Procedures

At Saviour Primary School, we believe good attendance and punctuality is vital for children to access all the rich and varied opportunities available to them.

The school gates open at 8.40am until 8.55am. If your child arrives after this time, they will be marked as late and taken to class by a member of staff to ensure classroom learning is not disturbed.

Congratulations to all children who have maintained high attendance this year. Each term we will write to parents, informing you of your child’s attendance level and thanking you for your support.

97% and above - Green
90.1 - 96.9% - Amber
90% and below - Red

Attendance Warning Letter

Reporting an Absence

If your child is going to be absent from school, please let us know by contacting 0161 205 1221. A message may be left on the school answer phone or in person at the school office. If we have not heard from you by 9.30am, we will ring your child’s contacts to check on your child’s safety and wellbeing. If no contact is made, we may complete a home visit.

Wherever possible, we ask that routine medical and dental appointments be made outside school hours or during the school holidays. If this is not possible, we will require a copy of the appointment letter to authorise your child’s absence. A school slip can also be provided by staff at the School Office. This can be taken to the appointment and stamped by the medical/dental practice.

We are unable to authorise any leave of absence during term-time unless there are “exceptional circumstances.” Holidays are not considered to be exceptional circumstances so we can not authorise these.

Persistent Absence
According to government thresholds, if your child’s attendance falls below 90%, they will be logged as Persistently Absent. In cases where there is no improvement, parents may be fined or taken to court.

Unauthorised Absence

From 19th August new changes have been introduced by the Department for Education regarding sanctions for unauthorised absences.

All parents received a letter via email outlining these changes (see copy of letter below)

If you take an unauthorised holiday in term time or have other periods of unauthorised absence the Headteacher may request that Manchester City Council issue a fine (known as a fixed penalty notice.)  These penalties are issued by Manchester Local Authority and are applied per child, per parent. 

If issued with one, you'll need to pay this directly to the Local Authority - £80 within 21 days, or £160 within 28 days.  If there was a second period of unauthorised absence within a three-year period then a second penalty notice could be issued, and this would be at the higher rate of £160.

Further periods of absence within three years could mean that you are taken to Court with no option of a penalty notice.

Parents/Carers will receive a text with a link to the letters below. The letter will inform parents of their child's current attendance by colour banding GREEN, AMBER or RED.