Late/Absence Procedures
The school day.
The school gates open at 8.50am and close at 3.25pm.
Morning registration opens at 8.50am and closes at 9.10am. The children are collected at 3.15pm
Registration
An attendance register will be taken at the beginning of each morning and afternoon session and children are marked present or absent. Absences will be recorded as authorised or unauthorised. Different categories of absence are marked in accordance with Local Authority arrangements.
Parents are requested to notify the school of an absence no later than 9am. This is so that we can be sure where every child on our school roll is and make sure they are safe. Any absence which we have not been notified of will be followed up by the administrator by 9.30am. Where no contact can be made and we have reason to be concerned an unreported absence will be followed up with the educational welfare officer or police.
Registers should be marked in such a way that original entries and corrections are both clearly distinguishable. Registers are closed at 9.10am. Children who arrive before registration has closed will be marked as L (late before registers close). Children who arrive after registration has closed at 9.10 a.m. will be marked as U (late after registers close).
Procedures
The school applies the following procedures in deciding how to deal with individual absences.
Under the Schools Attendance regulations, Headteachers are only allowed to authorise any leave of absence when an application has been made in advance and it is felt to be for an exceptional circumstance; the annual family holiday would not be deemed an exceptional circumstance
Illness and other legitimate reasons for absence from school
If a child is unfit for school, parents are asked to contact the school on the first day of absence before morning registration (9.00 a.m.). Other reasons for absence must be discussed prior to the absence with the Headteacher. Any authorisation for absence will be decided upon on a case-by-case basis. However, the school cannot authorise absence for shopping, looking after sick parents or siblings, day trips, birthday outings etc. Leave may be granted in an emergency (e.g. family bereavement) or for medical/dental appointments that have to take place during school time. Every effort should be made to organise appointments out of school hours to avoid absences. Proof of appointment such as an appointment card or letter should be made available to school to support a request.
Holidays in term time
This school is pro-active in discouraging parents from taking children out of school for holidays during term time.
All leave in term time is at the discretion of the Headteacher, who will personally consider each request against the criteria specified on the Absence Request Form.
Applications for absence during term time must be made on the school’s Absence Request Form prior to the dates of absence.
In considering a request for leave, the following criteria will be considered before authorising the leave:
- The timing and duration of leave
- The child’s current attendance record (this must be above 87%)
- The child’s stage of education (first term in Reception, end of Key Stage etc)
- The time of year ( e.g. proximity of tests or SATs/ key events)
- The nature of the trip (an exceptional circumstance?)
Only in very exceptional circumstances will holiday in term time be authorised. Governors have agreed that any request for a family celebration or occasions such as a wedding, birthday celebration or other celebration should be granted only 3 days if considered to meet the criteria of being exceptional. The school will request additional information such as invitations to be provided to support these requests. Only 3 days will be granted for any special occasion. This gives two days to travel to and from the event and one day for the date of the event. Any additional days requested will not be authorised.
If a holiday request is made and the circumstances are felt to justify authorisation the governors have agreed only 5 days can be authorised. Any additional time requested will therefore be unauthorised.
Holidays which have not been authorised will be recorded as ‘unauthorised absence’. The school’s Education Welfare Officer will be notified of the unauthorised absence and they can choose to issue a Fixed Penalty Notice or fine.
