Attendance and Punctuality

At Bowes, we listen, understand, empathise & support families to attend school.

We value every child and their right to an education. It is essential that each child’s attendance does not fall below 95% due to the impact this has on their attainment and progress (see below). We strive to ensure all children are safe, healthy and successful individuals.

Improving attendance is in everyone’s interest and is everyone’s business at Bowes. We work closely with the Education Welfare Officer to monitor absence and address poor attendance.

• The school day starts at 8:50am and we offer a soft start where pupils are able to come into school from 8:40am. All pupils should arrive at school on time, ready for learning.
• Registers are taken at 9:00am. Pupils arriving after the register has been taken will be marked as late (L).
• Pupils arriving after 9:30am will be marked as unauthorised lateness (U). All pupils should arrive at school on time, ready for learning.

• School finish times are listed below, and it is expected that children are collected promptly. If children are not collected by 3:30pm they will be taken back into school where lateness is recorded. Upon repeated late collection, children will attend after school club where parents may be charged for this service.

Session times are as follows:

What should I do if my child is unable to come to school?

1. If your child is going to be absent due to illness, please contact the school office on 02083682552 and select option 1 before 9am to inform Tina. Alternatively, you can email the school office at office@bowesprimary.org
2. Please ensure you explain the reason for their absence, as we are required to keep records of why children are not in school. Please tell us the nature of your child's illness, for example - vomiting.
3. For hospital/dental/GP appointments, please provide a copy of the appointment letter/card to the office either before the appointment or once your child has returned to school.
4. If you need to request a day off for any other reason, please contact the school office on 02083682552 or email office@bowesprimary.org

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Impact of punctuality

We would like children to adopt good habits of attending and punctually. It is disruptive to your child and to the rest of the class when children arrive late. If a child arrives after 9:30am, it will be registered as an 'unauthorised late'. This will affect their attendance percentage.

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