It is important that all children are punctual and attend school regularly if they are to fulfil their potential. School should be notified by letter or telephone on the first day of absence giving brief details of absence. Miss Callander will contact parents if a message is not received by 9:15am.

Authorised absences cover such things as sickness, hospital and dentist appointments.

When parents fail to inform school about children’s absences, the absence will be marked in the register as an Unauthorised absence.

Keeping children off school to go “shopping, visiting, buying shoes, parent unwell” etc. will also be considered as an unauthorised absence.

Holidays cannot be authorised in term time. Holiday Notification Forms must be completed in advance of the holiday and an appointment should be made to see the head teacher. Penalty Notices are issued to parents taking children out of school for 5 or more days and above unless there are exceptional circumstances. The holiday form request can be found under the 'letters' section of the school website and further information is available from the school office. We celebrate and promote excellent attendance at our end of term celebration assembly.

Attendance Update for Academic Year 2024-25

The Department for Education has recently announced national changes to penalty notices issued for unauthorised absence in term time. These changes will come into effect on 19 August 2024.

The changes to be aware of are:

• Penalty notices issued for offences that take place after 19 August 2024 will be charged at a new rate of £160 per parent per child. This can be paid at £80 if paid within 21 days.

• Any second penalty notice issued to the same parent for the same child within a rolling 3-year period will be issued at the rate of £160 to be paid within 28 days with no option for a discounted rate.

• The threshold at which a penalty notice must be considered is set at 10 sessions (equivalent to 5 days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10-school week period. This may include absences as a result of arriving late after the register closes. The 10 school weeks may span different terms or school years.

• A maximum of 2 penalty notices may be issued to a parent for the same child within a rolling 3-year period, so at the 3rd (or subsequent) offence(s) another course of action will need to be considered (such as prosecution or one of the other attendance legal interventions). 

• Only penalty notices issued for absences taking place after 19 August 2024 will count towards the above thresholds.

Absences can have a lasting effect on learning

Missing a week of school means your child will miss around 25 hours of learning

This creates gaps in their knowledge and could mean they will not meet their full potential