Absence from School

In order that our children gain the greatest benefit from their education it is vital that they attend regularly and your child should be at school, on time, every day the school is open unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable.  As a school we have a good attendance record and we work closely with the Attendance Improvement Service to support regular school attendance.  Our attendance policy (which can be found on the policies page) lays out the responsibilities of both school and parents with regard to attendance.

From September 2013 the Government has amended school attendance legislation such that the Headteacher will no longer be able to authorise any holiday or non essential absence from school, apart from in 'exceptional circumstances.' Such requests for absence will be considered on an individual basis and a written response given by the Headteacher, however please do contact the school if you are in any doubt as to what classes as an 'exceptional circumstance.'  

The school and its staff regard the regular attendance of children at school as being vital to each child’s education and development. It is for this reason that nonattendances (however short or infrequent) are treated seriously. It remains the policy of the school to only sanction non-attendance during term time in exceptional circumstances. If your child has unauthorised leave of absence, you may either be issued with a Penalty Notice of £120 per parent per child (discounted to £60 if paid within 21 days), or your case could be referred by the Local Authority directly to the Magistrates' Court for the purposes of a criminal prosecution.”

Procedure - Ilness and Lateness

If your child will be absent due to illness, or will be arriving late to school, parents must notify the school by telephone or email prior to 9am, stating the reason. If your child is ill on subsequent days, you must notify the school on a daily basis to provide an update.

Children arriving late to school (after 9am) must be signed in by a parent/carer, and children leaving early must also be signed out.

Procedure - Medical Appointments

It is understandable that some clinics/consultants conduct their surgeries during the school day. However, where it is possible to do so, routine appointments should be made out of school hours. An absence request form must be completed (below) and copies of hospital/consultant appointments should be made available to school for their records. All information will be treated in the strictest confidence