The Importance of Attendance
The school office is available to answer any queries or questions you have. There is an answerphone facility if the office staff are busy. Messages are checked regularly.
The office staff are:
- Mrs A Embling - Office Manager
- Miss C Hain - Office Administrator
Reporting Illness
If your child is ill, please contact the school on the first day of absence. Absences can be reported by telephoning the office on 01945 410312 before 9.00am. Please leave a message on the answerphone if there is no one available to take your call.
Absence
If your child is due to leave school during lesson time for any medical reason (e.g. to attend a dental or hospital appointment), please notify the school office in advance, providing proof of the appointment (e.g. hospital letter) where possible.
For any non-medical absence request, please complete the 'Request for Leave of Absence' form below and hand to the office. Please note, we are not able to authorise term-time holidays in line with our school policy. Taking your child out of school for an unauthorised holiday may result in a penalty notice from the Local Authority.
Start Time
Our gates open at 8.30am and close at 8.40am every morning.
If you are late dropping your child to school and the gate is closed, please bring them to the main office where they will be registered. This is for child safeguarding reasons.
End Time
Our school day ends at 3.15pm for Reception - year 6. Should your child not be collected by 3.20pm, they will be sent down to the main school reception to be collected.
Daily Timetable
- 8:40am-12:15am: Registration and morning lessons
- 9:00am: Collective Worship
- 11:00am-11:15am: Morning break
- 12:15pm-1:00pm: Lunch
- 1:00pm-3:15pm: Afternoon lessons
- 3:15pm: Dismissal
Attendance Figures Explained
Attendance is based on a child being at school in time for the morning register as well as the afternoon register so being marked present for 2 sessions a day.
Both these sessions count towards their overall attendance figure which is simply a percentage of how many sessions your child has been present throughout the current academic year.
The only reasons a child will be marked as present when they are not in school are if they are being educated at a different location, or at a school event such as residential or sporting.
There are a variety of different reasons that a child may be absent from school and the school will assign an appropriate code on the register to make staff aware of the reason.
Authorised Absence
Absence from school can be authorised for the following reasons:
- Medical appointments
- Illness where the school has been notified by phone or in writing
- Religious observance
NOTE: An authorised absence is still recorded as the child not being in school and will have a negative effect on their attendance figure.
Absence from school will be unauthorised in all other circumstances unless deemed to be ‘exceptional’ by the Headteacher. This does not apply to term-time holidays, which will always be unauthorised.
Please see the information below, from the Local Authority, regarding unauthorised term time leave.
Unauthorised Term Time Leave (includes Holiday)
Any parent who takes a child out of school for term time leave of more than 6 consecutive sessions over a 4 week period, not authorised by the school (under exceptional circumstances rule), may receive a Penalty Notice.
Such cases will have to be supported by evidence of previous unauthorised term time leave (more than 6 consecutive sessions over a 4 week period) taken in the last 3 years and evidence of parents being warned about a potential Penalty Notice.
Why We Feel a Child’s Attendance is so Important
Children’s learning in school is based on a build up of skills and knowledge.
This build up is continually planned by teachers on a day to day basis. Children that miss one session could miss out on a potentially important session and although every effort is made to catch children up when they return, this is usually not as effective and takes time away from the rest of the class.
If children miss out on a number of sessions this can significantly affect their overall progress.
Children that are away from school on a regular basis can miss out on opportunities to build strong friendships and can sometimes find it harder to build strong friendships within school.
There are a variety of different reasons that a child may be absent from school and the school will assign an appropriate code on the register to make staff aware of the reason.
