Attendance

Parents have legal duty to ensure that their child attends their chosen school

regularly, on time, and that reasons are provided for any absences.

The Importance of Attendance

Regular attendance in primary school is vital in ensuring that a child achieves their full potential and gets the best possible education. Attendance at our school is closely monitored by all staff, including the Executive Head Teacher who has a duty to report back to the governing body on any concerns around attendance.

Lateness

Good punctuality is also important in helping children to feel settled in school.  Children who are frequently late often miss important messages and explanations for their teachers as well as missing out the opportunity to soicalise on the playground with their friends before school starts.  In the event of school trips, coaches cannot wait for late children to arrive and will depart at the time advertised, with parents then having to transport their child to the trip venue themselves. 

Staff are on the playground form 8:45am each morning to chat with parents and to supervise the children - parents are welcome to leave their child in the care of school staff from this time.  The school bell rings at 8:55am to signal the start of the school day and registration.  Any child arriving after this time will be marked as late and should enter school though the main school office so that the number of minutes late can be recorded.  We appreciate that many of our parents travel a considerable distance to get their children to school and appreciate that the vast majority of these families do manage to get to school on time.  If you are ever running late, please telephone the school office to let us know.  Frequent lateness is also closely monitored by Mrs Barrick and the Executive Head Teacher.

Reporting Illness

If your child is too poorly to attend school, please contact the school office by 9:30am on the first day of their absence - this can be via telephone or email.  Where a child is absent at registration and we have not received a phone call/message from the child's parent, school will telephone to check on the reason for the child's absence. If a child's absence lasts for more than one day, we request that you to provide a written note, confirming the reason for their absence upon their return to school. 

Attending Medical Appointments

Wherever possible, we would encourage parents to make any medical appointments for their child outside of school hours or during the school holidays.  Where this is not possible, we request that parents show the child's appointment card/letter to Miss Rowden in the school office to confirm the reason for absence on the child's records.

Holidays During Term Time

Applications for any leave of absences during term-time are the responsibility of the Executive Head Teacher and will only be granted  'in exceptional circumstances'. Schools have strict criteria, which they must follow when deciding when to authorise a leave of absence, and it should be noted that a family holiday is highly unlikely to fulfil these criteria;  Parents are strongly advised not to make any travel arrangements before an application for a leave of absence has been approved. Leave of absences  which are unauthorised should not be taken. If they do so, parents are committing an offence and, in certain cases, may be subject to a Fixed Penalty Notice or prosecution.