School Day

South Witham Academy School hours

The school day runs from 08:45am to 15:15pm. This provides children with a 32.5 hours school week in line with DfE guidance.

Any children who are not in class by 9am will be marked as late, this is monitored by the Headteacher and attendance officer. Any children who arrive after 08:50am must come to the office and the caregiver must confirm the late drop off as the gate to the playground will be closed.

We ask parents who are dropping off and collecting to mindful of our neighbours and to avoid driveways. We have the support of the local community, police and traffic wardens monitoring parking on the zig zags and double yellow lines. We teach the children road safety and we would like all parents to respect and demonstate this.

Scooters and bikes may be left in the covered bike shelter at the back of the school, and we ask all children to dismount from their bikes and scooters when entering the school grounds to avoid any accidents with other children. We do not take responsibility for items left in the bike shelter.

Children must be collected promptly from the playground at the end of the school day or from main reception for after school clubs. Delays in collecting result in causing further delays for staff. If normal arrangements are altered please contact the office or inform your child's class teacher. We will not allow your child to go home with someone or walk home on their own else unless we have been notified. It is your responsibility to inform us of any changes to who can and who can't take your child home.

Should your child need to take any prescribed medicines whilst at school it will be administered by a member of staff, on a voluntary basis. You must complete a medicine form which needs to be collected and returned to the office. We are unable to give any unprescribed medication.

Attendance Matters

For more information on how to report absence and how we manage attendance please refer to our Attendance Policy which can be found in Key Data > Policies

We understand that from time to time things happen at home or on the way to school that may delay you, as long as this doesn’t become a regular issue.  Just 5 minutes late every day impacts on the children’s morning routine, being settled and ready to start the day, missing morning activities and actually equates to missing over 3 days of school over a year.  The table below shows how being late can affect their learning.

Attendance in school everyday is really important in helping children to flourish.  Studies show that success in GCSE’s and the jobs they do in the future can all be positively impacted by having good attendance in primary school.  The DfE’s benchmark for attendance is over 96% and children below 90% (which equates to 3 ½ weeks of school missed per year) are classed as ‘persistently absent’.  The table below shows how days missed are counted as attendance percentages and the impact this has.

Ensuring your child’s regular attendance at school is your legal responsibility and permitting absence from school without a good reason creates an offence in law and can result in prosecution