Late/Absence Procedures
Punctuality
Punctuality is very important. Arriving late for school is a poor start to the day, causing embarrassment to your child, disruption to the class, unnecessary difficulties for teachers who are teaching, and most importantly, disturbance to learning for other children
Attendance registers are taken at 08:55 and any child arriving after this time will be considered late. If parents know their child is going to be late for any reason, they should let the school know. Arrival after the close of registration will be marked as ‘L’ Late. All lateness is recorded daily and the reason for lateness if known will also be recorded.
Absence Procedures
If your child is absent you must either:
- Contact us as soon as possible on the first day of absence;
- Call into school and report to the office, who will inform your child’s class teacher.
- Leave a message on the absence line with name, class, reason for absence and expected return date.
- Children who have local medical appointments in the middle of the day are expected to come into school in the morning and return to school afterwards and ask you to provide evidence of this.
- Make sure the school always have your current contact numbers; this includes all telephone numbers, childminders and emergency contact details.
If your child is absent, we will:
- Telephone or text you on the first day of absence if we have not heard from you
- Invite you in to discuss the situation with our Education Welfare Officer if absences persist
Exceptional Leave during term time
Please note that the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013, which came into effect on 1st September 2013, removes references to family holiday and extended leave as well as the statutory threshold of ten school days. The amendments make clear that headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.
If a parent / carer wishes to request such leave, they should make a written application at the earliest opportunity. The headteacher and senior staff will consider each request and inform the parent / carer as soon as possible, in writing, whether the request has been granted or not. Please be aware that if a request for such leave is not granted, any absence from school during the above dates will be recorded as unauthorised and the school will consider issuing a Penalty Notice to each parent for each child that is taken out of school.