Attendance

Attendance and punctuality is an aspect of school life we strive to continually improve. In line with Government guidelines and our own initiatives, please find below details outlining changes and expectations to our attendance policies and procedures:

• If your child will not be attending school the office must be informed  by telephone (01423 503011) on the first morning of any absence before 9.15am and for every day of their absence thereafter.
• A written letter explaining their absence must also be presented on their return to school.
• If the school is not telephoned to explain an absence by 9.30am then the office staff will telephone the parent/carer for an explanation. If the parent/carer cannot be contacted then other emergency contact numbers provided will be called. It is vital that parent/carer keeps all relevant contact numbers up to date. In exceptional circumstances, if we are not able to establish the whereabouts of a child we will contact the Prevention Service or the police.
• Parent/carers must ensure that their child arrives at school on time (8.55am is when the morning register is taken). The main gates are opened from 8.30am and teachers collect children from the playground at 8.45am. The main school gates are locked promptly at 8.55am so any children arriving after that time must be brought by an adult to the main entrance where they must be signed in
• Family holidays are not permitted during term time and only in very exceptional circumstances can they be authorised.
• Leave of Absence forms must be completed to ask permission for ‘exceptional circumstances’. Forms are available from the office. Absences without permission from school will be registered as unauthorised.
• Medical appointments should be taken out of school hours and if this is not possible then appointment cards/letters need to be shown to the office staff in order to authorise the absence
• For sickness and diarrhoea children must not return until 48 hours after the last episode. For other illnesses, if a child feels better during the morning we would expect them to return school for the afternoon.

A weekly attendance trophy is awarded to the class with the best attendance and a weekly raffle will take place, with all children with 100% for the previous week entered. Termly certificates will be presented to any children with 100% attendance.

If you wish to discuss or comment upon any of the above, please speak to your class teacher or telephone the office to make an appointment.

We place a lot of importance on regular attendance at school and under the new Government legislation, we are unable to authorise holiday requests. If there are exceptional circumstances these can be applied for by completing the below form and returning it to the school office.

Application for pupil leave of absence in exceptional circumstances during Term Time