Attendance
If your child is absent from school for any reason please inform the school by telephone or letter.  We are required to publish details of authorised and unauthorised absences.  We currently operate a First day Absence scheme where the school phones the home if the children are absent and the school has not been notified.

If your child needs to leave the premises during the school day (e.g. dental appointment) please notify the school office in writing.  Children must be collected from school for any such appointment by a parent or parent‑designated adult.  No child will be allowed to leave the premises unaccompanied.

 

The school requests that you do not take holidays during term time.  If it is not possible to avoid taking a holiday during term time, a letter of request must be written to the school, explaining the reasons why the holiday must be during term time, and stating the length of the holiday.  No such request can be authorised for more than 10 school days, and the circumstances must be exceptional for absences of more than 5 school days to be requested.  A child’s attendance will be taken into account if a holiday request is made.  Holidays will not be authorised if a child’s attendance falls below the school target level.  Requests must go to the headteacher at least two weeks before the absence, to determine whether or not the absence can be authorised.

 

For 2005/6 the percentage of half-day sessions missed by children through authorised absence was 5.0% and through unauthorised absence was 0.1%.  This compares with the school's target for the total rate of absence not to exceed 4.7%.