Attendance

We expect all children to be in the playground by 08:40, ready for the school day to begin at 08:45, when the register will be taken. If your child arrives late they must go immediately to the school office to receive their mark. Parents/carers of children who persistently arrive late will be contacted by staff.

Any children who are frequently absent, have a pattern of absent days, unauthorised leave or attendance that has fallen below 97% will be contacted by school. Persistent absentees (below 90% attendance) will be referred to the Inner East Cluster and allocated an Attendance Improvement Officer.

We provide the children with regular opportunities to celebrate their attendance through challenges and prizes. We also commit to writing to you throughout the year to remind you about your child's absence. 

If your child is unwell and needs to be absent from school you must always ring our attendance line on 0113 5351000, choose option 1 and provide a reason for your child's absence.

Please note that text messages are not accepted to report a child’s absence. All absences must be reported by phone.

You can seek advice from the NHS if you are unsure as to whether your child is well enough for school. Please see further information here: NHS: Is my child too ill for school?

Shakespeare Primary School no longer authorises any holiday leave. We expect all parents to take their holidays during the approved school breaks. It should be noted that there are 175 days each year when your child does not attend school. No child is expected to be absent from school on exceptional leave/holiday during term time.

However, we are aware that sometimes in very exceptional circumstances (e.g. family crisis), parents may need to request to take their child/ren out of school during term time. The application will only be considered if an Exceptional Leave form is completed, and evidence is provided of the exceptional circumstances where requested.

School absence fines may be applied for if your child has unauthorised absence from school. Please find further information on the Leeds City Council website here: School absence fines

Exceptional Leave forms are available from the School office, or you can download one here:
Exceptional Leave form.

School implements guidance from Working Together to Improve Attendance, DFE 2024. You can find a copy of the guidance here:

Our Senior Attendance Champion is Mrs Brealey. Our Learning Mentor with responsibility for Attendance is Mrs Thackery.

We are very proud to say that attendance at Shakespeare is excellent because our families make attendance a priority. For this reason, we have recently won attendance awards for attendance levels consistently above the national average.