Lateness
Punctuality is an excellent life skill and is encouraged by everyone at school. However, there
may be unavoidable reasons for lateness and parents should notify the school if this
happens. Persistent lateness is unhelpful to your child/ren and is disruptive to the whole
class.
If your child arrives after the register has been closed they need to report to the office
where their attendance will be recorded as late. If your child is frequently late, we will ask to meet with you to identify any issues that are causing your child’s late arrival and put support
systems in place.
Illness
Please contact the school by 9am on the morning of the first day of absence to allow the
school to record the absence accurately and if appropriate, authorise it. The ‘phone system
has an absence answer-machine; this is the best way to inform us. Parents should give an
indication of the probable length of absence if it is likely to be longer than one day. If there
is no contact from the parent, the school will telephone to ask for the reason for absence;
this is to ensure pupils who have set off for school, have arrived safely.
Please provide a written explanation on your child’s return, as we require this for our
records. If no written explanation is given, you will be asked in writing to provide one. This
helps us to track absences accurately and is a government requirement.
Please telephone the school office on 01235 831368
Sickness
If your child is unwell with vomiting and diarrhoea, the school follows County Guidelines
that recommends your child should remain off school until they are symptom free for 48
hours and are feeling well in order to prevent further spread of the virus.
If your child is unwell during the school day, the school administrator or class teacher will
inform you and ask you to collect your child as soon as possible. If you cannot be contacted,
an adult who is authorised by you to collect your child/ren from school, and whose
telephone number is recorded on the Registration Form, will be contacted.
Medical appointments
Please make every effort to arrange medical and dental appointments out of school hours. If
this is not possible, please send a note to school, and collect and deliver your child via the
main entrance.
Authorised Absence
An absence can only be authorised for one of the following reasons:
- Medical, e.g. illness, GPs surgery, hospital or dental appointments
- Religious observance
- Approved sporting activity in which the pupil is taking part
Although other reasons may seem equally valid by parents and/or the School, in most cases
the absence cannot be authorised and therefore the child has to be recorded as having an
unauthorised absence.
Family Holidays
We are not allowed, by government, to authorise absence for holidays
except in the most exceptional of circumstances. Requests may be made for absence of one
or two days, but these will only be authorised if the child’s attendance is over 95%. Parents
must complete an ‘Exceptional leave of absence request’ form in order to have this absence
authorised.
If a child is absent during term time for a holiday a Penalty Notice Warning will be issued. If
another is taken during the same year, a Penalty Notice will be issued by the Attendance
and Engagement Officer (AEO).
For further information please read the School’s Attendance Policy on the policies page.