Attendance
Our attendance target is 100%. Children should attend school every day that they are well enough to attend. Attendance is recorded at morning registration at 8:55am and again at afternoon registration at 1.00pm.
Illness
It is usually appropriate for parents and carers to send their children to school with mild illnesses. This would include general cold symptoms: a minor cough, headache, runny nose or sore throat. We encourage you to use the NHS 'Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk)' for more guidance to support this matter.
We are aware that your child/ren may be absent from school due to symptoms of anxiety. Worry and mild or moderate anxiety, whilst sometimes difficult emotions, can be a normal part of growing up for many children and young people. Being in school can often help alleviate the underlying issues. A prolonged period of absence is likely to heighten a child's anxiety about attending in the future, rather than reduce it. The DfE has published useful guidance on mental health issues affecting a pupil's attendance and those who are experiencing persistent symptoms can be encouraged to access additional support. Mental health issues affecting a pupil's attendance:guidance for schools - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Reporting absence
We do recognise that some absence is unavoidable. If your child is unwell and unable to attend school, please ensure you contact the office and leave a message before 8:30am so that the register can be updated. If we do not hear from you, we will need to use staff resources to complete follow up calls. If we have still not received any communication by day 2, we will complete a home visit. This can be very time consuming.
Please remember that children with vomiting and/or diarrhoea should be kept off school for 48 hours after the last incidence of vomiting/diarrhoea. Please see the link below for further information about when to keep a sick child off school.
Booking medical appointments
We ask that parents book any medical appointments around the school day to avoid disruption to the school day. If this is not possible, we ask that you provide evidence so that we can authorise the absence and inform your child's class teacher.
Term time holidays
We ask that all parents/carers complete a Holiday Request Form that can be collected from the school office. However, our Head Teacher usually does not authorise term time holidays and we may request, without further warning, that the Local Authority take legal proceedings against you for your failure to comply with the law. This may result in a Penalty Notice. Failure to pay the penalty due may result in prosecution before Magistrates Court. Whilst we appreciate there is a significant decrease in cost for taking your child/ren on holiday during term time, it has a significant impact on their education. Missing large chunks of the learning journey makes it difficult for your child/ren to keep up with their year group's curriculum.
Persistent absentees
We monitor attendance closely at our school. If your child is identified as a persistent absentee (that means they're regularly absence with an attendance percentage of below 90%), you will be contacted by Mrs Wiggall. We will invite you in for a meeting to create an Attendance Improvement Plan in order to support you with improving your child's attendance. Where support is not working or being engaged with or is not appropriate, we will contact the local authority for advice on legal intervention which could result in a fine or possibly social care involvement for further support.
Please click here for our Attendance Policy
Please click here for NHS advice about when to keep a sick child off school.