The telephone line for parents /carers to report reasons for absence is 01283 759007, Option 1. We have an Attendance Officer who will contact you regarding your child’s absence from school.
If your child is absent for 1 day please telephone the absence line, clearly stating your child’s name, year group, date of absence and reason for absence.
If your child is absent for a second day, please telephone the absence line again indicating how long your child is likely to be absent.
Please encourage your child to come into school if at all possible. Absence is missed learning which impacts on their academic achievement. You are welcome to contact school to inform us that your child is attending school despite feeling unwell and we can then support them in school.
Wherever possible, doctor and dental appointments should be made outside the school day. The student should sign out at Reception before attending such an appointment and must sign in when returning to school following the appointment. Please send in a copy of the appointment card or letter to enable us to authorise the absence. Please do not allow your child to have a full day off for a medical appointment unless it is unavoidable.
If your child needs to leave the school during school hours for reasons such as attending an appointment, illness or behaviour concerns, we request that arrangements are made for your child to be collected from the relevant site at soon as possible. If you are unable to collect in person, then the school requires permission for your child to make their own way home. This authorisation can be emailed in advance of an appointment or following a call from the school. This is to ensure that parents/ carers are aware that their child is walking home and are happy for them to do so.
Morning registration is at 8.30am. All students should make every effort to arrive at school by this time. Students arriving after this time must sign in at Reception and will have an ‘L’ recorded on the register. This counts as a present. Continued lateness will result in referral to the Education Welfare Officer. The morning registers close at 9.00am. Late students will receive a detention. Students arriving after 9.00am will have a ‘U’ (unauthorised absence) recorded on the register, unless there is an acceptable reason verified by a parent / carer. Where a student does arrive late, it is essential that they sign in at reception stating the time of arrival and reason for lateness. Please note that the code of conduct states that you need 10 unauthorised lates within a 12 week period before a request is sent to the local authority to begin statutory action.
In the case of an enforced closure or school transport difficulties due to bad weather the “Y” code is used, which is not classed as an absence. This can be applied to students for whom getting to school is problematic due to adverse weather even if the school is officially open. Ordinarily, this only relates to students who live beyond walking distance of the school i.e. further than 3 miles.
The Governors’ Policy is not to allow holidays during term time. Should the request be for other planned absences such as participation in county sporting events or other educational representative activities the parent/ carer should contact the school.
Amendments to the 2006 regulations removed references to family holiday and extended leave. Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Changes to unauthorised leave during term time no longer requires there to be 10 days of unauthorised leave but now only requires there to be a period (ie one day or more) of unauthorised leave before school will notify the local authority. The amount of the penalty is £60/£120 in accordance per parent per child. If you pay this penalty within the time limits set out below, no further action will be taken against you in connection with the offence as set out in this notice. Payment should be made within 21 days from date of issue. If paid after 21 days but within 28 days the penalty is doubled to £120 per parent per child. Please be aware that it is the Local Authority that issues Fixed Penalty Notices and not the school
Other circumstances: It is not appropriate for the school to authorise absences for shopping, looking after other children, haircuts etc. Leave may be granted in an emergency (e.g. bereavement) or for medical appointments which cannot be scheduled outside the school day.