Attendance & Absences
Senior Leader Responsible
Mrs Howe is the senior leader with overall responsibility for championing and improving attendance.
Holidays
Mrs Howe cannot authorise holidays during term time.
A ‘Leave of Absence’ form, which is available from the school office or below, must be completed for any request for time out of school, whether it be that exceptional circumstances apply or your child is taking a music or dance examination and requires time off for that.
Penalty notices may be issued if parents choose to remove children from school without approval.
Reasonable Absences
It is the legal responsibility of parents to ensure their children attend school continuously. Legislation requires schools to keep a register of attendance and to record the reasons for a child’s absence, such as sickness, medical or dental appointments. A school can authorise such absences. However, the school cannot authorise all absences.
An absence may be unauthorised if no communication is received from parents. Parents should telephone the school before 9am on the first day of the child’s absence, stating the reason. We expect a note of explanation if the child returns after a period of absence that has not been notified. To avoid spreading illness, please consult the NHS guidance for further information.
As you would imagine, your child’s attendance is rigorously tracked. If your child’s attendance is a concern, a member of staff will communicate with you, either in writing or by a phone call.
As an example, Andrew is currently in Year 2. His attendance at the end of the school year is 90% - this is the equivalent to a half-day every week or, put another way, is the equivalent to Andrew missing four weeks of education in a school year. Just think about the potential effect this could have on his education.
Reasonable explanations include:
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Medical, sickness, dental reasons
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Receiving part-time/temporary education at an off unit site
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Educational visit (i.e. with the school)
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Leave of absence due to exceptional circumstances granted by the Headteacher
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Excluded for fixed, indefinite or permanent period from school.
Any child who arrives late at school, after the registers have been closed, will be recorded as having an unauthorised absence except the explanations above if this is not a regular occurrence.
Please inform us as soon as possible if you wish your child to leave early for a medical appointment or family emergency. We would expect him/her to be collected from school in these circumstances.
Please note that we only release children in school time to a parent or guardian and with prior notification.
My child is trying to avoid coming to school. What should I do?
Children are sometimes reluctant to attend school. Any problems with regular attendance are best sorted out between the school, the parents/carers and the child. If a child is reluctant to attend, it is never better to cover up their absence or to give in to pressure to excuse them from attending. This gives the impression that attendance does not matter and may make things worse.
Contact your child’s class-teacher immediately and openly discuss your worries. Your child could be avoiding school for a number of reasons – difficulties with school work, bullying, friendship problems, family difficulties. It is important that we identify the reason for your child’s reluctance to attend school and work together to tackle the problem. In some cases you may find it helpful to discuss the circumstances of your child’s difficulties with another professional.
What can I do to encourage my child to attend school?
Make sure your child gets enough sleep and gets up in plenty of time each morning. Ensure that he/she leaves home in the correct clothes and properly equipped. Show your child, by your interest, that you value his/her education.
Be interested in what your child is doing in school, chat to them about the things they have learnt, what friends they have made and even what they had for lunch!
Leavers
If your child is leaving our school we ask Parents to:
1 Give the Headteacher comprehensive information about the families plans, including any date of a move and your new address and telephone numbers, your child’s new school and the start date when known. This should be submitted to our school in writing
2 If pupils leave and we do not have the above information, then your child is considered to be a child missing in education. This requires schools and local authorities to then carry out investigations to try and locate your child, which includes liaising with Children’s Services, the Police and other agencies. By giving us the above information, these investigations can be avoided.
Absence through child participation in public performances, including theatre, film or television work and modelling
Parents of a child performer can seek leave of absence from school for their child to take part in a performance. They must contact the headteacher to discuss the nature and frequency of the work, whether the child has a valid performance licence and whether education will be provided by the employer during any future leave of absence. It is, however, down to the headteacher’s discretion as to whether to authorise this and they will wish to discuss with you the nature and frequency of the absence and how learning will continue if absence occurs. Any absence recorded as part of a child’s participation in a public performance is recorded as C, an authorised absence.
Absence through competing at regional, county or national level for sport
Parents can seek leave of absence from school for their child to take part in regional, county, national and international events and competitions. It is, however, down to the headteacher’s discretion as to whether to authorise this and they will wish to discuss with you the nature and frequency of the absence and how learning will continue if absence occurs. Permission for your child to leave early or arrive late to attend coaching and training sessions is also at the discretion of the headteacher and is not likely to be approved if it is a regular event, unless the sports club or association is providing an education tutor as part of their
coaching.
Gypsy, Roma, Traveller and Showman families
Absence of a child from a Traveller family that has left the area may be authorised if the absence is for work purposes only and it is believed that the family intends to return. To ensure the continuity of learning for Traveller children, dual registration is allowed. That means that a school cannot remove a Traveller child from the school roll while they are travelling. When the Traveller is away, the home school holds the place open and records the absence as authorised through the T code. Distance learning packs for Traveller children are not an alternative to attendance at
school.