Please ensure your child arrives to school on time. The school day starts at 8.45am. Children arriving to school after this time will need to enter school via the school office, as the pupil entrance and classroom entrances will be locked. A Parent/ Carer will be required to sign the pupil in and provide a reason for lateness.
Absences
Children’s unauthorised absences, are monitored by the School and Local Authority and are looked at during an Ofsted Inspection. The school operates a first day of absence contact system. Therfore if you child is ill or at an appointment and is going to be absent from school please let the office know on the morning of your child’s absence. If we do not recieve an explanation you will be contacted by text after 10am to remind you to get in touch and provide a reason. Until we recieve an explanation for your childs absence it will be recorded as an unauthorised absence.
If you have not informed the school of an absence then parents will be contacted by text/phone. This procedure helps protect your children and reduce the number of unauthorised absences.
Attendance Target for 2022-23 is 96%
Requests for Leave of Absence
Missing school for any reason is likely to deprive a child of educational opportunities and hamper their progress at school. Although we acknowledge that parents may sometimes prefer to take holidays outside of school holidays this has to be balanced against the effect on pupils’ progress at school.
With effect from September 2013 the government has abolished the right of headteachers to authorise absence specifically for holidays of up to 10 days per year if special circumstances exist. Instead, headteachers will only be allowed to grant leave of absence for any reason if they are satisfied exceptional circumstances exist e.g. holidays that are dictated by employer/military personnel (employers written verification would be required).
The effect of this change means that the government expects it to be extremely unusual for leave of absence, including for holidays in term time, to be permitted by schools.
If due to exceptional reasons you do need to request a leave of absence please submit a Leave of Absence Request form (available from the school office or on the school website) at least 4 weeks before the start of the proposed absence.
Both the school and the Local Authority take the issue of school attendance very seriously and parents should be aware that where leave of absence is taken during term time without permission they may be issued with Education Penalty Notice fines of £60 (rising to £120) per parent per child by the Local Authority