Last updated: April 2026

Review date: April 2027

(Links with our safeguarding handbook)

Monitoring and Absence Notification

Attendance is a key marker of child welfare, and as such, monitoring of attendance is viewed as one aspect of good safeguarding practice. (Please see Safeguarding handbook). It also has a very important role to play in encouraging and establishing good attendance habits. This is vital both in ensuring that children make the best possible progress and that any gaps in learning are minimised, and also in establishing good habits which will continue throughout their education and into later life.

Children who regularly miss sessions or are generally late, can frequently experience a sense of having to try a little bit harder just to understand what is going on and what other children are talking about or doing.

• Children’s absence will be monitored through the Famly registers and monitoring reports on the Famly attendance tab. Children who are absent from the setting will be recorded on the online register with the reason why they are absent. If the parent/carer has not informed the setting that a child will be absent, then the setting must call to check the child is ok and find out the reason for the absence.
• When children are absent from the setting on a regular basis, the manager must speak to the parent/ carer to ascertain why this is a regular occurrence. This will be logged on the attendance monitoring sheet and reviewed for any safeguarding concerns. This applies to children who do not attend on repeat occasions or if a child suddenly stops attending the setting without reasonable explanation.
• If a child is suddenly taken abroad for long periods of time this must be raised with the DSL who must ensure the child is safe and make appropriate referrals, where required.
• Any concerns about a child’s attendance will be discussed with the parent/carer unless we believe that a child, or vulnerable adult, may be endangered by engaging in discussion. These decisions will be made by the DSL.
• If there are safeguarding concerns regarding a child’s absence the Safeguarding procedure will be followed.

Nursery Education Grant

It is a condition of our registration with the local authority for government funded nursery education sessions, that we monitor the attendance of individual children and report any patterns of non-usage of funded sessions. The same principle applies to all sessions funded by agencies eg social services, respite care, care to learn etc.

Should a child fail to attend 2 successive grant funded sessions without notification, we will contact the family to ascertain the welfare of the individual child concerned. We will record all absences and any reasons given. We will report these back to the funding agency.

Booking Changes / Flexibility

We are flexible about attendance patterns to accommodate the needs of individual children and families, providing these do not disrupt the pattern of continuity in our settings that provide stability for all children.

Where possible we offer the option to book additional adhoc sessions. Parents / carers are able to request changes to their booking patterns. As per our terms and conditions, we do request a month’s notice of this and such changes to take effect at the start of a calendar month.

Why Attendance is Important in Early Years

Good attendance and coming to an early year’s provision on time is important for every child, but especially those for whom specific factors make them more vulnerable to disengagement or underachievement. Most children are well supported by their families and continue to thrive, whatever their background or circumstances, however, there may be factors in children’s lives which make it more likely that they could experience some difficulties. This is especially the case in areas that are considered the most deprived. It is important for us at Paint Pots to pay close attention to a child’s pattern of attendance to ensure that we give children every opportunity to get the best start in life and to develop positive attitudes and skills to support them to be prepared for success in formal education and work in later life.

Regular attendance in the Early Years offers opportunities for children to: