Nursery Attendance Policy

At Spring Meadow School House Nursery, the attendance of all of our children is of vital importance. Although we recognise that attending nursery is not statutory, we believe good attendance is essential if children are to be settled and take full advantage of the learning and development opportunities available to them. At a young age, continuity and consistency are important contributors to a child’s well-being and progress.

Our Attendance Policy aims: 

1. To create a culture where good attendance is ‘normality’ and valued.
2. To ensure that all of our children are able to achieve their maximum educational potential.  
3. To be consistent in the implementation of our policy and procedures.

Procedures:

It is the responsibility of the parent/carer to notify the Nursery by phone or email if your child will be absent for any reason e.g. illness, holiday, etc. If you know holidays in advance it is greatly appreciated to let us know these. 

If your child attends a morning or full day session, please inform us by 8:30am or by 12:30pm for an afternoon session. Messages of absence from parents will be passed onto the Nursery Teacher. If we haven’t heard from you a member of staff will contact you by telephone to ascertain the reason for absence. If we cannot reach you, we will leave a message and send an email. We will also keep a record of non-attendance and of our contact attempts. 

If there is no contact after one week, a letter will be sent to the family. If necessary, an appointment will be made with the Nursery Teacher to discuss the matter. If after one month there has been no contact, the child’s name will be removed from the Nursery register and the place allocated to another child on the waiting list. If you claim FEET or EYFE funding, long or regular absences may affect your entitlement. We would need to contact the Essex Early Years and Childcare Service. We would notify you when we have done this.