Reporting absence for illness

Parents should inform the school by Parent Mail of the reasons for their child’s absence by 9:00am on the first day of the child’s absence and on each subsequent day of absence.

If a child is absent with no explanation, school office staff will telephone or e-mail the parents to ascertain the reason. Please make sure that we have up-to-date contact details.

Lateness

School starts at 8:30am (nursery), 8:40am (reception) and 8:45am (KS1/KS2) and the register closes at 9:00am. If a child arrives at school after the start of the school day but within 30 minutes, they will be registered as ‘late’; this is not an unauthorised absence and the child is counted as present for the morning session.

Lateness beyond 30 minutes will be counted as an absence. This will be an unauthorised absence unless parents/carers provide the school with an acceptable reason.

Medical/other appointments

Parents/carers must avoid arranging appointments for their child during the day. However, if it is unavoidable, parents/carers must notify the school of the appointment details.

A child should only be taken out of school for his/her own appointment, not because another family member has an appointment. This includes collecting a child early so a parent or carer can attend an appointment for someone else.

Persistent and severe absence

Persistent absence indicates a child is missing 10% or more of school (equivalent to 1 day or more absence per fortnight across a school year). The school interprets severe absence to be below 80% across a school year. We shall work with parents to support them in improving attendance through regular meetings which may include collaboration with the Local Authority Attendance Team.

Authorised absences

We are able to authorise (at the headteacher’s discretion) absence due to:

illness or medical treatment; education in a setting other than school (this would be pre-arranged and agreed with the school); days of religious observance; exceptional circumstances.

Exceptional circumstances (not exhaustive)

Return of parent from active service (Forces); death or serious illness of a parent, step-parent or sibling; Young Carers; disability or respite leave; periods of obligatory religious observance; approved public performances (with clear supporting evidence).

Any request for an absence which might be considered as ‘exceptional circumstances’ should be put in writing to the Headteacher as far in advance as possible, including any relevant supporting documents. The decision whether to grant leave, and if so, how much, remains with the Headteacher.

Not typically considered as exceptional circumstance (not exhaustive)

Family holiday/cheaper holiday dates; educational visits arranged by family members during school time; attendance at a wedding or christening; visiting relatives either abroad or in the UK; limitations on parents/carers' leave’ entitlement or dates; parents/carers’ profession or place of work making it difficult to coincide school and work holidays; a family member going for medical treatment abroad.

Unauthorised absences

We will not authorise absence due to:

lateness; other family members’ appointments; transport difficulties; holidays in term time.

When a leave of absence is taken and the school has not authorised the absence because the reasons are not considered ‘exceptional’, the school will request that the Local Authority issues a Penalty Notice. In considering whether to do so, the school will consult the latest advice given from the LA. If the absence meets the threshold in this document, the school will request that a Penalty Notice is issued.

If a child’s attendance drops below 90% within a 5 week period, with 5% of those being unauthorised absences, they will be picked up through weekly attendance analysis and put onto a monitoring programme where attendance will be carefully checked over the following 2 week period. If attendance improves within that 3 week period then no further action will be taken however if attendance continues to be irregular then a Parent Contract Meeting will need to be arranged with or without support from the Local Authority.

Attendance and legal intervention

The law protects the rights of children to have an education and provides a range of legal interventions to formalise attendance improvement efforts. The school will look at the range of legal intervention options available should voluntary support efforts fail.