Current Conway Data: 95.4%

Local Authority Figure:

National Authority Figure:

At Conway, we believe every school day counts. Coming to school regularly and on time is essential to helping children learn, believe and Succeed — academically, socially, and emotionally.

Why Good Attendance Matters

• Achieve academic success – Good attendance means children can keep up with learning, understand lessons better, and make strong progress in all subjects.
• Build friendships and confidence – Regular school attendance helps children stay connected with their classmates, develop key social skills, and feel a sense of belonging.
• Secure a brighter future – Good habits start early. Strong attendance in primary school sets children up for success in secondary school, future careers, and beyond.

What Is Considered Good Attendance? 

• The Government expects at least 95% attendance for all pupils.
• If a child's attendance drops below 90%, they are classed as a Persistent Absentee, which can seriously affect their learning and development.
• For context: 90% attendance over a year = nearly 4 weeks of missed learning.

Parent and Carers Responsibilities 

By law, parents and carers must make sure their child attends school regularly and on time. 

• If your child is unwell or cannot attend school, please contact the office on the first day of absence.
• It’s important that you keep us informed — the school will decide if the absence can be authorised.

The School's Role

We take attendance seriously at Conway Primary:

• Registers are taken twice daily and recorded on our system.
• Our Attendance Team monitors attendance carefully and will be in touch if there are any concerns.
• If attendance continues to be poor, we may need to involve the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s Attendance Advisory Service, and legal action may be considered in serious cases.

Authorised vs Unauthorised Absence 

We understand that sometimes children can't attend school. Absences can fall into two categories:

• Authorised: Illness, medical/dental appointments, religious observance, or family emergencies (e.g. bereavement). 
• Unauthorised: Holidays during term time, no explanation provided, or absences not agreed by the school.

Please always talk to us before planning any time off — holidays during term time will not be authorised.  

When Should I Keep My Child Off?

Not sure if your child is too ill for school? Visit the NHS guidance for school absence to help you decide. In general, if your child is well enough to take part in daily activities, they should be in school. 

What Happens If Attendance Is Poor? 

If your child’s attendance drops below 90%, this will be flagged to our Safeguarding and Inclusion Teams, and may also be shared with the Local Authority. Poor attendance can lead to: 

• Lower academic progress
• Social difficulties or isolation

Legal action for parents in extreme cases 

We’re here to help. If you're struggling with your child’s attendance, please speak to your child’s teacher or a member of our Inclusion Team — we’ll work with you to put support in place.  

Recording Attendance and Punctuality 

Legally the register must be marked twice daily. This is once at the start of the school day at 8.45am and again for the afternoon session at 1pm.

 It is important that all pupils arrive on time at the beginning of the school day. The school day begins at 8.45am and all students are expected to be in school at this time.

In the morning at 8.50am, class teachers are responsible for morning  AM registration and in the afternoon for the PM registration. It is the responsibility of class teachers to formally register pupils at the beginning of each session. At any time during the school day, staff should only mark pupils as present if they have physically seen them. 

 If a student arrives between 8:50 am and 9.00am the attendance will be registered as L (before register closes, class teachers must also record the number of minutes late). If a student arrives to school after 9.00 am from the office, they will be registered within our  Inventry  system (late after register closes).

Ongoing and repeated lateness is considered as unauthorised absence. The school may request a meeting to tackle persistent lateness. Parents, guardians or carers of students who have patterns of lateness will be contacted to discuss the importance of good time keeping and how this might be achieved.

 If lateness persists, parents, guardians or carers will be invited to attend the school to discuss the problem and offer support. Parents are urged to communicate any known medical appointments in advance and inform us of any exceptional events that might lead to their child arriving after the school register had closed. If a student is late due to a medical appointment, he/she will receive an authorised absence coded ‘M’, with provided evidence for appointments. Parents/Carers are asked, where possible, to arrange doctors’ and dentists’ appointments outside of school.

 School Absence Procedures First Day Absence 

A child not attending school is considered a safeguarding matter. This is why information about the cause of any absence is always required. Our intention is not to interrogate parents and carers, but they should be aware that this information will be requested until suitable information is provided. If a pupil is absent, parents and carers must contact the school on the morning of the first day of absence by 8am. Information received via phone/email is used to update the registers to ensure we have a clear picture of known absences.

In the case of illness and other absences, Parents/Carers are asked to call on the morning of each day of absence, unless they have provided medical note/evidence which states the number of days which the pupil will need for recovery. If a pupil is absent and we have not been notified by parents or carers, then we will:

First Day of Absence: N code the register illustrating that a pupil is absent with no reason provided.  The attendance officer or member of the business team will 

• Send a 'Bromcom' communication message via text and email, informing you that your child is not present in school according to the registers.
•  Follow up with a telephone call and further text to parents/carers; this is because we have a duty to ensure a pupil’s safety as well as their regular school attendance.
•  Continue to contact parents/carers so that the absence is explained, and the N code can be replaced with a suitable code.

School Absence Procedures After First Day 

Third Day Absence : If your child is not seen and contact has not been established with you or any of the named parent/carers after three days of absence, the school will start a Child Missing in Education enquiries, and we will contact emergency contacts, known friends and wider family to see if they are able to help us locate you and explain the ongoing absence, and lack of communication.

Fifth Day Absence: If contact has not been established, then as a school, we may carry out a home visit and welfare check. This will involve two staff members, who may include a member of the attendance team, the school's Designated Safegarding Lead or the School Business Manager 

Tenth Day Absence: Child Missing in Education referral will be completed and sent. The school has a legal duty to report the absence of any student who is absent without an explanation for 10 consecutive days. CME referral: If the child has not been seen and/or contact has not been established with the named parent/carer, then the Local Authority is notified that the child is ‘at risk of missing’ his/her education. Children’s Services Staff will visit the last known address and alert key services to locate the child. Parents/carers have a responsibility to ensure their contact details are up-to-date.

Twentieth Day Absence: If a pupil has been absent from school for 20 consecutive days and this absence is unauthorised by school, the pupil may be removed from the school roll. Parents/Carers wishing to readmit their child would be required to do so through the Local Authority school admissions process.