Dear parents and carers

I have noticed a significant rise in late arrivals of pupils at school.  SCHOOLS DO NOT WORK ON A FLEXI TIME BASIS.

The reasons given for the late arrivals are varied and often not a justified reason for not bringing your child to school punctually.

Late arrival at school is very disruptive for your child and others.  By admitting your child to Ashgate Primary School you are agreeing to follow the policies and practices of the school.

For clarity:  The children enter the school building at 0845.  They must be on the playground in advance.  Whilst there are sometimes justifiable reasons for late arrivals, reasons such as 'life', 'it's raining', ' and 'I thought school started later' are not acceptable reasons to be bringing your child to school over an hour late (or even late at all).  

Parents have a legal duty to ensure good school attendance and I remind all of this to prevent more serious/draconian actions.

Late arrival disrupts:

• Your child’s access to learning
• Arrangements to support children in other groups (including Special Needs)
• Office staff supporting parents
• Your child being settled and ready to learn
• Your child’s understanding of the need to be on time.
• Missed learning time

Parents sometimes comment that the school office staff are not available to speak to by telephone or in-person in the morning or that their child has not received a scheduled support session; the main reason for this is that support staff are registering children arriving late and taking them to their allocated class.