Admissions and Attendance
If you would like your child to attend our school, please see full details of our admission arrangements below. You can contact our school at any time to arrange for a visit: admin@bentleyhighst.elp.org.uk
All new parents will be contacted by a member of our pastoral team so that we can provide a personalised induction for your child. This will allow us to get as much information as possible so we can best support their needs. The school will also need to gather medical information.
All admissions will be passed through ‘Admissions’ at Doncaster Local Authority, Bentley High Street Primary school does not do ‘quick admissions’ for pupils.
Bentley High Street Primary School will only admit children on the first day of each term – Autumn 1, Spring 1 and Summer 1. Only in exceptional circumstances will admission during the term be allowed however this would only be during the start of a half term.
If an application is made for the child to attend the school, then it will need to be made either directly to ‘Admissions’ at Doncaster Local Authority or the school can pass on the form to ‘Admissions’ on the parents’ behalf.
If a place is offered after the first day of a term, then this place will be held open for the child to start on the first day of the following term.
If a pupil does not start at the school within two weeks of the start date offered by the Headteacher, the place will not be held open beyond this period and a new application will need to be made, in-line with the above criteria.
No child will normally be accepted to attend Bentley High Street Primary School without prior consultation with the school they are leaving.
Pupils will be expected to remain at Bentley High Street Primary School for the full seven years as mid phase transfer has detrimental effects on pupil progress. If a transfer to another school is requested, it is recommended that this is done at the end of term or in exceptional circumstances at the end of the half term.
Parents requesting a transfer should discuss this with the Headteacher.
Special consideration to admissions would be considered for each of the following:
- Children moving into the Borough or other circumstances where they cannot reasonably attend their previous school
- Managed Moves, which by definition are an agreement between the two parties;
- In Year Fair Access cases
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council School Admissions page.
Attendance
At Bentley High Street, we recognise that positive behaviour and good attendance are central to raising standards and pupil attainment.
Improving attendance is everyone’s business. The barriers to accessing education are wide and complex, both within and beyond the academy gates, and are often specific to individual pupils and families. Good attendance begins with an academy being somewhere pupils want to be and therefore the foundation of securing good attendance is that an academy is a calm, orderly, safe, and supportive environment where all pupils are keen and ready to learn.
Some pupils find it harder than others to attend and therefore at all stages of improving attendance, academy leaders and partners should work in partnership with pupils and parents collaboratively to remove any barriers to attendance. By building strong and trusting relationships academies can ensure that the right support is put in place for pupils and families. Securing good attendance can therefore not be seen in isolation, and effective practices for improvement will involve close interaction with academies on curriculum, behaviour, bullying, special educational needs support, pastoral and mental health and wellbeing, and effective use of resources including pupil premium. It cannot solely be the preserve of a single member of staff, or organisation, it must be a concerted effort across all teaching and non-teaching staff in our academies, the trust, the governors, the local authority and other local partners.
Absences
If your child has to be absent from school it is very important that we receive a telephone call explaining the reason. We operate a “first day” attendance policy where you will be contacted by the school on the first day of absence for an explanation where we have not received a telephone call.
Please try to call before 9.30 on 01302 874536 if your child will not be attending school.
Please note that any absence not reported to school by either word of mouth or written communication will be classified as an ‘Unauthorised Absence’ and reported as such at the end of the academic year. Repeated unexplained absence or lateness will be referred to the Education Welfare Officer.
Our overall attendance from September 2023 to the end of the Summer Term 2024 for Y1-Y6 was 95.2%.
The previous year, this figure was 94%, so we are above the previous year by 0.8%. Our persistantly absent figures are also reducing. Last year, this figure reduced by 3.5%
