Attendance
Attendance at TAS
At TAS, we place a strong emphasis on attendance because we believe that "everyday counts." We are committed to ensuring that every child has access to the excellent education we provide. For the 2024-2025 school year, we have set an ambitious attendance target of 97%. This exceeds the national and Local Authority averages, but we are confident that it can be achieved. Our goal is for every child to maintain at least 95% attendance or higher. We understand that there is a clear connection between consistent attendance and progress. When a child misses school, they miss out on crucial learning opportunities—time that can never be fully regained. Regular attendance is essential for a child to reach their full potential. To put it in perspective, 90% attendance means your child has missed half a day of school every week. Over a full academic year, this amounts to nearly 4 weeks of missed schooling, equivalent to 19 days or 80 lessons. At TAS, we actively promote the importance of regular attendance as a key aspect of personal development. We work in partnership with parents and students to foster a positive attitude and strong commitment to education.
Our Commitment to Supporting Attendance
- Daily Monitoring: If your child is absent and you have not informed us, we will contact you by phone on the first day of absence to understand the reason.
- Proactive Communication: We will reach out to you if we have any concerns about your child’s attendance or punctuality.
- Regular Tracking: We closely monitor attendance and produce monthly reports to track patterns. If we identify consistent non-attendance, we will invite you to an Attendance Meeting to discuss strategies for improvement, always with the child’s best interests in mind.
- Ongoing Support: We are here to help promote good attendance and punctuality. If you encounter issues affecting your child’s attendance, please contact us, and we will do our best to support you and find a solution.
- Safeguarding and Support: Our Designated Safeguarding Lead and Attendance Officer will get in touch if your child has persistent absences to identify any underlying issues and provide necessary support.
How You Can Help
Communication with the school is vital. If your child is absent for any reason, you must inform us on the first day of absence by either:
- Phone: Call the school office at Plumstead (0203 6514 863) or Lewisham (0204 5762 340) and provide your child’s full name, class, and reason for absence.
- Email: Send an email to admin@thetascentre.co.uk with your child’s full name, class, and reason for absence.
Late Collections
We also track and record late collections. We expect all children to be picked up at the designated time. If your child is not collected within 7 minutes of this time, we will contact you. If you anticipate being late, please inform the School Office as soon as possible. Repeated late collections may result in a meeting to find an acceptable solution, as late pick-ups can upset children and create additional work for staff.
Department for Education (DfE) Guidelines
Our school adheres to the guidelines set out by the DfE. The following publications, effective from September 2022, are already being implemented at TAS and will be reinforced at the start of the new academic year:
Summary Table of Responsibilities for School Attendance: August 2024