Late/absence procedures

ABSENCE AND LATENESS

If you child is absent please inform the school using the Absence Line: 01904 552211.  When children are absent from school it is important that we are informed of the reason as soon as possible, preferably before 8.50am.  If you do not call us and your child is absent, we will phone you to check on the absence; this is partly a safeguarding procedure to check that you and your child are safe.  Unless we receive a valid explanation from parents, we are obliged by law to record the absence as unauthorised.

When children are absent from school because of  unforseen exceptional circumstances, parents are asked to write a letter or email of explanation to the Headteacher..

REQUEST FOR LEAVE OF ABSENCE OR FAMILY HOLIDAY

WHAT THE LAW SAYS:

Schools are regularly audited to ensure that they are following government guidelines and policies. The Government amendments make it clear that Headteachers must not grant any leave of absence during term-time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

The law does not give any entitlement to parents to take their child on holiday during term-time. Parents can be fined for taking their child on holiday during term-time without consent from the school.

Schools are not permitted to authorise holiday requests for the following reasons:

1. Cost or availability of a particular holiday
2. It overlaps the start or end of a school term
3. The weather at a particular time of year

WHAT THE HEADTEACHER WILL DO:

In deciding whether to authorise a request for leave of absence for exceptional circumstances, the  Headteacher will consider:

1. your child’s current attendance record
2. the time of the school year
3. Individual reasons for request for leave.

PLEASE REMEMBER:

• Unless you have an unforeseen emergency resulting the your child being absent, please give at least seven days' notice for any requests for leave for exceptional circumstances.  This means your request can be processed by the school office prior to the start of your absence, otherwise your request may not be authorised
• Should a pupil fail to attend within ten school days immediately following the expiry of the period for which leave was granted, the child’s name can be removed from the school roll.