Absence Reporting
It is your responsibility as parents to ensure that your child attends school regularly. For the safety of all children it is important for you to telephone the school office on 01387 274350 or our new Absence Line 01387 274356 prior to the start of the school day. Absences are recorded in class registers and frequent or irregular absences not supported by a reasonable excuse will be notified to parents and the matter may be referred to the Opportunities for All Officer. If possible, please make dental/medical appointments out with school hours. However, if this is not possible, please inform us in writing or by telephone of the appointment and arrange to collect your child from the school office.
Unexplained Absences / Lateness
Parents are asked to ensure that:
• The school is informed if the family is running late.
• Any legitimate absence is notified to the school by telephone before 8.50am on the first day of the absence and that further calls are made on every subsequent day of the absence.
• Contact telephone numbers are kept up-to-date and are genuinely numbers where a response will be received. This is particularly important with mobile numbers.
• The school is kept informed of the absence and the likely return date.
• Any planned absences are officially notified to the school, in writing, in advance.
• Please inform the school office if a child is not returning to school after lunch as a result of becoming unwell over that period.
• Latecomers must report to the school office on arrival.
Staff will ensure that absences are checked every day and follow up the whereabouts of any child for whom we have no explanation.
Holidays
The Government has highlighted the importance of school attendance to a child’s development and has required schools to set targets for improved attendance. Against this background, there is considerable concern at the increasing number of term-time holidays being taken by children at the request of their parents. The Head Teacher is not in a position to refuse permission to parents for such holidays but it is the view of Education Services that these holidays should be officially recognised as ‘unauthorised’.
Education Services recognises that some parents have difficulties in arranging their own holidays to suit school holiday periods and parents remain free, within reason, to remove their children for holidays during term time. They should, however, appreciate that prolonged absence from school at any stage is harmful to a child’s education and it is not possible – nor fair to other children – to direct teaching time to assist a child who has been on holiday to catch up on what they have missed. This means that, whilst parents are at liberty to remove children from school for the purposes of family holidays, such absences will be recorded as ‘unauthorised’. Parents should continue to inform the school, in writing, of any such holiday plans.
The exception to this is when a family holiday is judged to be important to the well-being and cohesion of the family following serious or terminal illness, bereavement or other traumatic events.
