St Andrew’s School Day:

Children can be dropped off between 8.40-8.55am and then school finishes at 3.15pm (with the option of booking paid wraparound care or pupils attending a club).

All children need to be in school at 8.55am (the gates will then close) until 3.15pm (the children are brought out of class).

Please do not arrive late as it disturbs the learning not only of your child but of the rest of the class. Please do not pick up early for the same reasons. In the event of an emergency medical appointment which cannot be arranged out of school time please let the office know and give them copies of the appropriate paperwork.

Thank you for your support. Please remember that following the global pandemic it is more important than ever that pupils are in school. There is often a direct link between attendance and attainment, please help your child by not taking them out of school during term time.

Please remember if you need support getting your child into a good routine, please put a note in their pupil diary for the class teacher and they can see how they can help. Alternatively, a member of the Senior Management Team and a Teaching Assistant are always at the gate on a morning and are happy to help.

Should your child be unwell and not able to come to school we have a 24hr answer machine, just leave a message before the start of the school day. If your child needs an urgent medical appointment (which is unavoidable during the school day) please email the office the appointment letter.

We aspire for all children to attain 100% attendance. Attendance percentages are shared with families once each term at parents’ meetings with the teachers or in the annual written report. To aid holiday planning we set our INSET days in the Spring Term before the start of the next academic year.

Information from Somerset County Council

Somerset County Council is committed to providing all children with the best start in life and works hard to ensure that all children in Somerset attend school regularly. Reducing absence from school is a key priority both for Somerset and the Government. The majority of parents in Somerset ensure that their children attend school regularly.

Attending School on a regular basis is the key to your child doing well at school and will set them up with good routines for later life and the working world, as well as giving your child the opportunity to:

• Make lots of friends and feel included.
• Learn new things and develop many skills.
• Increase confidence and self esteem.
• Improve social skills.
• Achieve their potential and fulfil aspirations.

As a parent you are committing an offence if you fail to make sure that your child attends regularly,

even if they are missing school without your knowledge. The details of parents with children who

have unauthorised absence (including those who have taken an unauthorised holiday) will be

passed to the school’s Education Welfare Officer.

Effects of non-attendance:

For information of term dates and INSET days please look at the calendar.