At Brooklands, we are committed to ensuring every child attends school every day. Regular attendance is vital for academic success, friendships, and well-being. Our curriculum is carefully structured as a series of building blocks, where each stage builds on prior knowledge, meaning even a single missed day can disrupt a child’s learning, confidence, and long-term progression through primary and secondary education. Our teachers teach up until the final day of term. 

Government guidance is clear—children should be in school unless genuinely unwell, as even small absences can have a big impact. Our attendance procedures are  informed by the most up to date research that is available to schools. 

• The link between attendance and attainment
• The impact of school attendance on lifetime earnings 

For ease, the key findings are summarised below: 

• Higher attendance is strongly associated with better academic outcomes
• This trend applies to all pupils, regardless of background
• The study used rigorous statistical analysis to confirm that attendance is a key factor in achievement
• At KS2, pupils who attended school nearly every day in Year 6 (with an attendance rate of 95-100%) were 1.3 times more likely to achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and maths compared to pupils who only attended 90-95% of the time
• Missing just 10 days of Year 6 reduced the likelihood of reaching the expected standard by around 25%
• Pupils who attended nearly every day were 1.8 times more likely to achieve the standard than persistently absent pupils who only attended 85-90% of the time (equating to 4-6 weeks more time in school)

Whilst 90% may ordinarily feel strong in other contexts, in terms of attendance this equates to a day-off per fortnight. You can check your child’s attendance via the school app or is available upon request from the school office.

• Each additional day of absence during secondary school (Years 7 to 11) is associated with a decrease of approximately £750 in a student’s lifetime earnings. ​
• An additional day of absence correlates with a 0.8% reduction in earnings at age 28.

At school we have a supportive approach when working with families of those pupils who have low attendance. We have outlined below the process we follow. 

School’s attendance team hold monthly meetings where we focus on pupils whose attendance is below 95% (the DfE class 90% and below as a persistent absentee). Once a child’s attendance falls below 95%, they enter the school’s staged attendance system.

We reassure parents who do not take term-time holidays that the above process is implemented fully, albeit confidentially.

Reporting absence

This should be done via our Brooklands Primary School app where you can see a live record of your child’s absence.

Punctuality

Children deserve to attend school on time each day to ensure they maximise their learning potential. Arriving late is not only embarrassing to the child but also causes them to miss a key element of learning each day, e.g. reading. As a result, we have a similar staged system in place regarding punctuality.

For further information, please see our Attendance Policy.

The links below are leaflets from the Local Authority regarding attendance:

Parental Guide to Good Attendance