Late/Absence Procedures
Attendance
We believe that a good attendance at school gives children the best opportunity to develop as individual both academically and socially. Our target for individual attendance over the year is 96%. We understand that at times, there are reasons such as illness or for important medical appointments, that it is not possible for your child to attend school but it is important that you inform us at the earliest opportunity if your child will not be attending school.
Lateness
It is important that to maximise teaching time that we start the school day promptly. Our door are open by 8:40am, registration starts at 8:45AM and closes at 8:50AM. Any child arriving after this time will be recorded as being late.
Our official register closes at 9:10AM and children arriving in school after this time will be marked as late after register closed. This is recorded as an unauthorised absence.
End of Day Procedures
Occasionally parents or carers are unable to arrange for their children to be picked up at the expected time at the end of the day. We would ask parents and carers to inform the school office at the earliest opportunity if you know you are going to be late for whatever reason. If you do not make contact, we will arrange for your child to join After school club, for which you will be charged; we will then follow the procedure in our safeguarding policy to keep your child safe. You can find a link to our policies at the bottom of this page.
Medical Appointments
We ask that, where possible, appointments are made outside of teaching time or where the impact on learning in school is minimised (end of morning, or end of day). If possible, please return your child to school after the appointment. When children are absent for registration in the morning or afternoon, that session is recorded as an absence. Evidence of a medical appointment e.g. appointment letter is helpful so we can verify the reason for absence from school.
Illness
We encourage you wherever possible to bring your child to school. We can normally manage with minor colds and snuffles with enough tissues! If your child is ill, please telephone the school office by 9:15 so we can complete the register appropriately. We operate a first day call system so if you do not make contact with the school we will use our contact list for your child to find out why they are not attending.
The only time we will ask you to refrain from bringing your child to school is if they have experienced sickness or diarrhoea in the last 48 hours. This is to avoid cross infection and creating more illness as a result. Your child needs to be fully well to return to school after any bout of sickness or diarrhoea and so a period of 48 hours is required - in line with NHS guidance.
Holidays
Because every day in school is an essential learning opportunity the DFE guidance has changed and strongly encourages all parents and guardians to use school holiday time for family holidays. We will are no longer able to authorise any holidays in term time and the Local Authority will take enforcement action (a fine, leading to prosecution if repeated 3 times in less than 3 years) for any unauthorised absence of 5 days or more in a 10 week period. If you have to request absence on an exceptional basis, please complete the form below to make a request for leave. Further information on the Local Authority and DFE approach can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance