Your child's attendance and education is important to us.
Absence from school really does affect your child’s progress, and usually, they will not be able to catch up on any lessons that they have missed.
Did you know…1 day a week away from school = 39 days a year or 7 weeks and 4 days of missed lessons, that’s ½ term of learning lost!
The school day begins at 8:45am for Reception, Yr1 and Yr2 children. Yr3, 4, 5, and 6 children start at 8:50am. Children will be marked late if they arrive after this time.
The register will close 10 minutes after the school day begins. If your child arrives after the register has closed they need to come to the school office.
The register officially closes at 9.30am if your child arrives after this time and you have not informed the office that they will be late due to an unavoidable appointment the absence will be marked as unauthorised.
Did you know…15 minutes late every day = one whole literacy or numeracy lesson lost every week!
Illness
If your child is unwell please contact the school office before the start of the school day. If the illness continues you must contact the office again each day to update us.
If your child is absent and you have not informed the school, we will telephone you requesting an explanation for their absence.
When your child returns to school you should send in a letter explaining their absence.
Head lice can be a problem in school and we would ask that you treat your child’s hair before attending school as head lice is not an acceptable reason for absence.
Term time holidays/leave of absence
All requests for holidays/leave of absence will be considered on an individual basis. Family holiday requests will not be authorised unless for exceptional circumstances and will only be granted at the discretion of the Headteacher. A maximum of 5 days may be granted in exceptional circumstances.
Penalty notices will be issued by the local authority to parents/carers if their child(ren) have 5 or more consecutive days absent from school.
A penalty notice is an out of court settlement which is intended to change behaviour without the need for criminal prosecution. If repeated penalty notices are being issued and they are not working to change behaviour they are unlikely to be most appropriate tool.
Therefore, from autumn term 2024, only 2 penalty notices can be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within a 3 year rolling period and any second notice within that period is charged at a higher rate:
- The first penalty notice issued to a parent in respect of a particular pupil will be charged at £160 if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days.
- A second penalty notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil is charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days.
- A third penalty notice cannot be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within 3 years of the date of issue of the first. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time (or subsequent times) within those 3 years, alternative action should be taken instead. This will often include considering prosecution, but may include other tools such as one of the other attendance legal interventions.
This follows the advice of The Department of Education. They strongly discourage term-time holidays: “Schools must remember that they can only approve absence for family holidays if they consider that there are special reasons which warrant the holiday. Holiday prices and the fact that parents have booked a holiday before checking with the school are not special reasons. Absence for a family holiday can result in pupils with poor attendance becoming persistent absentees.”
(Further information on advice regarding attendance is available on the DfE website. A copy of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 is available on the UK Statute Law Database.)