Attendance

If your child is absent due to sickness or diarrhoea, they must not return to school for at least 48 hours after their symptoms have ceased and they have held something in their stomach. 

Please refer to our Attendance Guidance.

It is now a Government policy that schools are not allowed to authorise any absences during term time. The Local Authority monitor absence rates and consider that any student with less than 90% attendance is considered to be a 'Persistent Absentee'. We ask for parents support in ensuring that absences in term time are kept to a minimum.

If you feel you have exceptional circumstances to request leave of absence, please download the Leave of Absence form or phone the school office to request that a form is sent home. Every leave of absence form must be accompanied by a covering letter stating why the leave should be considered as an exceptional circumstance. If approval is not given and the student does not attend school, the absence will be marked as unauthorised.

"From 1 September 2015, the Government is reducing the threshold  of absences from 15% to 10%.  This will now class a student with attendance below 90% as a persistent absentee, compared with the previous figure of 85%, regardless of whether the school has authorised or unauthorised the absence.  This equates to 38 sessions or 19 days of absence across the year, which is almost 4 weeks of absence from school.

Schools are no longer judged solely on their overall attendance figures but also on the number of students who fall into the persistent absence category. 

Regular attendance at school is essential to ensure uninterrupted progress and to enable children to fulfil their potential.  The attendance pattern for all children is monitored weekly with the school seeking to work actively with parents to ensure that regular attendance is maintained.  The Department for Education has published data on their website that clearly shows the link between attendance and attainment.  This highlights the fact that there will be an impact on your child’s education if attendance is not consistently above 95% throughout their schooling.

Minor ailments, such as a headache or slight cold, are not acceptable reasons for failing to attend school.  Repeated absences may require the school to request that you obtain medical evidence from your doctor’s surgery or local pharmacy as recommended by the Government. It is encouraged that medical appointments are made outside of the school day where possible, and where this is not possible it is encouraged that time is only taken for the appointment itself rather than a half or whole day.

The law does not give any entitlement to parents to remove their child from school during term-time for the purpose of a holiday. Headteachers may only grant leave of absence where an application has been made in advance and the headteacher considers that there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application, such as family bereavement or respite care"