School opening hours 

The official start of the school day is 8.55am (morning registration). Reception and Year 1 finish at 3.25pm. Years 2 - 6 finish at 3.30pm. This time amounts to 32.5 hours for Reception and Year 1, and 32.92 hours for Years 2 - 6.

The Nursery day starts at 9am and finishes at 3pm.

Punctuality

We have been delighted with the continuing decrease in the number of late arrivals at school. Children are happier when they arrive punctually at school and their learning gets off to a fine start. We have many incentives to encourage children to arrive punctually, including class cups, certificates and medals. Please remember:

• The school gates open at 8.45 a.m. and the doors to the building open at 8.50 a.m.
• School starts at 8.55 a.m. but we give you a 5 minute grace period to account for unforeseen circumstances; therefore any child arriving after 9 am will be marked late.
• Sable Street Gate will close at 9.05 a.m. and 3.45 p.m. to ensure safety for the children at school.
   

Attendance

We are also delighted with the continued improvement in our attendance figures. We award children medals and badges for 100% attendance and punctuality over a term and for over the whole year. Well done and thank you to everyone who has helped reduce our absences and cooperated with procedures required by the Department for Education (DfE). A reminder about these is outlined below:

• If your child is sick please inform the school office on the first day of absence.
• On your child’s return to school please bring a note to the school office explaining why your child was absent. If your child is absent directly before or after a holiday you will need to bring in medical proof to support the absence.
• Please avoid making dental or medical appointments for your child during the school day; if an appointment is absolutely necessary please show your appointment card (preferably in advance) to the school office as evidence for this absence.
• Any leave of absence has to be applied for, four weeks in advance, using the appropriate forms from the school office; each case is reviewed individually but please be aware that absence will be authorised in only the most exceptional of circumstances. Holidays during term time will never be authorised.
• Any unauthorised absence may result in an immediate penalty notice of £60 per parent per child from Islington’s Educational Welfare Department.

The school and Educational Welfare monitor attendance on a regular basis. We expect children to have at least 95% attendance. Many children achieve this which is wonderful.  If your child’s absence falls below 95% then Educational Welfare will be in contact. A child is considered a persistent absentee once their attendance falls to 90%.