To report your child’s absence please contact the school office:
Attending school on a regular basis is the key to your child doing well at school and will set them up with good routines for later life and the working world, as well as giving your child the opportunity to:
- Make lots of friends and feel included;
- Learn new things and develop many skills;
- Increase confidence and self esteem;
- Improve social skills;
- Achieve potential and fulfil aspirations.
We have in place a system of first-day calling. This means that parents will be telephoned on the first day a student is absent without explanation to establish a reason for the absence.
If children are absent we are required by the Education (Pupil’s Attendance Records) Regulations 1992 to record absence as either authorised or unauthorised. If your child is absent please inform the school by telephone on each day of absence.
All students’ attendance is monitored by school staff and the Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) The Educational Welfare Officer meets with the Headteacher half termly to monitor children whose attendance is under 95%. The EWO is able to offer support and guidance. Please do not hesitate to ask if you feel you would benefit from this advice.
Holiday Absence From School
Our general policy is not to give leave of absence for a holiday other than in the most exceptional circumstances. Such circumstances would include, for example, members of the armed forces where holiday is restricted, or students suffering from family break-up or bereavement.
Holidays taken without prior permission will be recorded as unauthorised absence and reported to the Educational Welfare Officer. The reason for the policy is the high correlation between attendance and attainment; students who are absent for 2 or more weeks a year tend to perform significantly less well in external examinations.
Please refer to the Attendance Policy for further information.