Attendance Policy

 

Why is good attendance important?

Good attendance promotes better outcomes for children. It is essential that children feel settled and take full advantage of the learning and development opportunities available to them at nursery school, and in later life. Good attendance promotes school readiness.

Benefits:

Form good habits -

Children who attend every planned session develop a feel for the rhythm of the week. They gain a sense of security from the regular timetable. This also helps form good habits for school attendance.

 

Develop secure relationships -

Young children find it easier to build and sustain social relationships when they attend their regular sessions.

For some families, particularly at times of stress, regular attendance allows parents to get other things done and helps them enjoy spending time with the child when he or she is at home.

Build self–esteem -

Children who rarely miss sessions and arrive on time:

• know what is going on and what to expect

• feel more confident with the adults and the other children

• have more opportunities to become involved and contribute their ideas

Cultivate routines and regularity -

If a child is late or misses sessions regularly, they can find it harder to:

• settle in

• understand what the other children and adults are talking about or doing.

Some children may need flexibility when they first start attending. The key person will support with settling in to:

• help the child become familiar with the setting

offer a settled relationship for the child

• build a relationship with their parents and/or carers

Young children can sometimes be reluctant to attend. They may be tired or want to stay at home with their parents. Try reminding them that they will have a wonderful time with their friends, playing and learning. We can signpost you to support if needed, for example:

• with implementing bedtime routines

• referrals to other agencies such as Early Help, Health Visitors or Family Hubs

Enhance learning and development

We plan every session, and we want to take every opportunity to help children thrive and learn.

• Experiences gained in one session at the setting can support further development by attending further sessions. By missing sessions children may miss valuable planned learning opportunities.

• Children learn in diverse ways; through play with others and through being in the company of practitioners who support their learning and development.

Requirements for early years settings

In Early Years provisions, we are aware that attendance is not compulsory until school age. However, not attending planned sessions could be an indicator of other concerns. We have certain statutory regulations that we must follow, and this is why we ask parents for information on absences.

The EYFS Statutory Framework 2025 informs us of the records we must keep. We must follow up absences as part of our safeguarding requirements. We must monitor absence patterns and families’ personal circumstances. This helps us decide whether we should refer concerns to children's social care and/or request a police welfare check.

Ofsted inspectors will ask us how well we collaborate with parents to promote children’s attendance. The focus is on children forming good habits for future learning and better outcomes when school attendance becomes statutory.

Early Years Education Entitlement (EYEE)

If we are claiming funding for your child and your child is regularly not attending their sessions, we will speak to you about how we can help. For example, rearranging the hours and days required. We must tell the Early Years Funding team about any absence over two weeks, or consistent absence throughout a funding period. If we do not, we could lose our funding. 

Absence procedure for parents

Give us advance notice of holidays and other planned absences.

Inform us as soon as possible if your child cannot attend and tell us why. Let us know whether this is for the one session or if it will be for longer.

Inform us if your child will be arriving late so we can plan for this and ensure a safe and smooth transition into the setting.

Absence procedures for our setting

If not informed of an absence, we will contact parents on the first day a child does not attend.

If we are unable to contact parents or carers we may need to try the emergency contacts. We will use our professional judgement about how soon this is necessary.

We will record the absence reason. Is this an unavoidable absence or an acceptable reason? For example:

• child illness

• illness of siblings or parents

• health services appointments

• holidays

• religious observance

• emergency circumstances.

Absences and late arrivals will be monitored and recorded by the Little Rockets team. We will make every effort to discuss the matter with you and take steps to support improved attendance.