We expect your child to be in school every day on time unless;

• They are too ill to attend
• They have a medical appointment that can only be made during school time. Repeated appointments may require medical evidence to be shared with the school.

If you are unsure if you child is well enough to attend school, please refer to the NHS guidance below.

Under the Weather

If your child is presenting as 'under the weather' but will be attending school, you can let us know by completing our 'Under the Weather' form that will be seen by our Senior First Aiders so we can check in on them if needed. This is designed to offer reassurance to parents and students.

Under the Weather communication – Fill in form

Absence

To report your child absent, please telephone us on 01491 837115 or emailing Ms Currill, Attendance Officer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

In addition to your child's name and tutor group, please share the reason for the absence and the expected return date. For safeguarding reasons, if we do not receive notification of absence but your child is not in school, we will consider completing a home visit.

Lateness to school

The school day starts with tutor time at 8:40am. We expect all students to be in their tutor rooms or in assembly at 8:40am. If your child arrives late, they will receive an automatic detention for the same day. Please make sure your child attends on time.

It is the parents/carers responsibility to notify the school with reasons for absences. Unauthorised absences are logged and multiple occurrences may lead to the local authority being notified and apenalty charge notice being issued.

The impact of absence

Excellent attendance is essential because we want all our students to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the school. Evidence shows there is a direct link between attendance and achieving. The law requires that parents/carers are responsible for ensuring that their children attend school and are on time. If your child is struggling to attend school or attend promptly, please contact us so we can work together to improve this for them.

Whilst we recognise that some illnesses can be unavoidable, attendance is an essential component to a student's academic success. Often the number of days that students are absent for accumulate without parents realising how many days have been missed due to illness. The result of even missing a day will have an impact on your child's education.

What can parents and carers do to support attendance and punctuality?

If your child doesn't want to come to school or is finding coming to school tricky, please let us know as early as possible so we can work together to change this for them.

• Reinforce our expectations regarding full attendance and excellent punctuality with your child
• Support staff when we take action over piunctuality or truancy, for example issuing detentions
• Let us know of any change in contact details immediately
• Contact the school by XXX to inform us of any absence as soon as possible
• Support your child to catch up any work missed
• Talk to your child about school
• Work together with the school to support your child.

Key contacts

Requests for holidays in term-time will not be authorised by the Headteacher. Government legislation makes it clear that "Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances." A family holiday does not qualify as exceptional circumstances.

Penalty Notices