Why is high attendance important to my child's education?

As a parent/carer you want the best for your children. Having a good education is an important factor in opening up more opportunities in adult life. Did you know that:

• a child who is absent a day of school per week misses an equivalent of two years of their school life
• 90% of young people with absence rates below 85% fail to achieve five or more good grades of GCSE and around one third achieve no GCSEs at all
• poor examination results limit young people’s options and poor attendance suggests to colleges and employers that these students are unreliable
• poor school attendance is also closely associated with crime a quarter of school age offenders have truanted repeatedly
• at least 1 million children take at least one half day off a year without permission
• 7.5 million school days are missed each year through unauthorised absence

GCSEs may seem a long way off for you and your child but all absence at any stage leads to gaps in your child’s learning. This in turn can:

• mean that they fall behind in work
• affect their motivation
• affect their enjoyment of learning
• lead to poor behaviour
• affect their desire to attend school regularly affect their confidence in school
• mean they miss out on the social life of school and extra curricular opportunities and experiences
• affect their ability to have or keep friendships