What if my child is off?
Absence or lateness, for whatever reason will adversely affect pupil’s education. It is a legal obligation for pupils to attend school regularly and punctually.
Please contact the school stating the reason for the absence as soon as possible or before 9.30 am.
Frequent or unexplained absences will be reported to the Education Welfare Officer.
The school attendance registers are monitored by the LA on a regular basis. Please notify the class teacher or the office of any medical or dental appointments etc.
Good attendance and punctuality is very important.
School telephone number: 01709 583271
The school office is open from 8.00 am – 4.00pm Mon-Fri.
Messages can be left on the answerphone out of these hours.
• If your child has a medical appointment, please bring your appointment card/ letter to the office where we can authorise the absence.
• Remember – every day spent in school helps your child to make progress.
• Children whose attendance falls below 90% will be classed as persistent absentees and be invited in to meet with the Headteacher to discuss what support can be offered to improve attendance.
Term-time Holidays
Government changes in legislation regarding holidays in term time with effect from 1st September 2013. This Central Government Directive now states that Head Teachers are no longer allowed to authorise requests for holidays unless they fallunder the following exceptional circumstances;
1. Where it is company/organisational policy for an employee to take leave at a specific time in the year and there is no opportunity for a family holiday in school holidays. This must be evidenced by a production of the policy document of the organisation.
2. Service personnel returning from/scheduled to embark upon a tour of duty abroad.
3. Where a holiday is recommended as part of a parent or child’s rehabilitation from a medical or emotional issue. Evidence must be provided.
This now means that if you take your child on holiday during term time, without authorisation, as Head Teacher I will now have to inform the Local Authority who may issue a Fixed Penalty notice. If this notice is issued, the penalty is £60 per child, per parent/carer when the payment is made within 21 days, after 28 days it will increase to £120.
Please note that this is not a school policy, but Government Legislation, and therefore must be followed accordingly.
