Attendance
School Procedures
By law, all schools (except those where all pupils are boarders) are legally required to keep an attendance register and all pupils must be placed on this register.
The register will be taken at the start of the first session of the day and after lunch time. It will mark whether every pupil is:
- Present
- Ill
- Absent
- Unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances
Any amendment to the register will include:
- The original entry
- The amended entry
- The reason for the amendment
- The date on which the amendment was made
- The name and position of the person who made the amendment
Every entry on the attendance register will be saved for three years after the entry was made.
Pupils must arrive in school by 9am each school day.
The register for the first session will be taken between 9am and 9.15am. The register for the second session will be taken between 1pm and 1.15pm.
Parents must notify school on the first day of an unplanned absence - for example, if their child is ill by 8.45am or as soon as is practically possible. They should also call the school on each subsequent day of illness. Parents must do this by calling the Reception office on 01752 776848.
Absence due to illness will be authorised unless the school has genuine concern about the authenticity of the illness. If the authenticity of the illness is in doubt, the school may ask parents to provide medical evidence such as a doctor's note, prescription, appointment card or other appropriate evidence. We will not ask for evidence unnecessarily. If the school is not satisfied about the authenticity of the illness the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and the parents will be notified.
If the child has previously been issued a medical evidence notice letter due to concerns about poor attendance, then all absences will be recorded as unauthorised unless medical evidence is supplied.
Missing registration for a medical or dental appointment is counted as an authorised absence; advance warning is required for authorising these absences. However, we recommend parents make these appointments outside of school hours where possible. Where this is not possible, the pupil should be out of school for the least amount of time possible.
Please notify the school about any planned absences by telephoning the Reception office on 01752 776848 and send a copy of the appointment card/letter at your earliest convenience.
Applications for other types of absences made in term time must be made in advance.
A pupil who arrives late but before the register closes will be marked as late using the correct code.
A pupil who arrives after the register has closed will be marked as absent using the correct code.
The majority of children arrive to school using transport provided by the local authority. If a child is late due to school transport then this will be taken into consideration. If there is a repeated concern then the school will take this up with the transport provider.
The school will follow up any absences to ascertain the reason for absence, ensure proper safeguarding absence is taken where appropriate, identify whether the absence is approved or not and identify the correct code.
The school will report the percentage attendance of children on the IEP reports that are sent out to parents three times a year. A full attendance breakdown report is available to any parent upon request.
