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Attendance
Good attendance is really important. Children quickly fall behind if they are away from school, even for a short time. If you keep your child away from school unnecessarily, you are directly damaging their education.
It is the law that children between the ages of 5 and 16 attend school regularly. If your child attends for less than 96% of term time we will want to meet with you to discuss the issue. If attendance falls to 90% the County Council can prosecute parents through the court process, which results in fines, a criminal record and sometimes even a prison sentence.
If your child has to be absent we will need to know the reason why. Please ring the office to let us know on the first morning (before 9.00 am) or in advance of any planned absence. Official absences include sickness, doctors, dentist, and hospital appointments but we may request evidence for these absences. Official absence is still counted as absence in % terms.
We strongly advise you not to take your child out of school at any time, if this is at all possible. We only authorise absence in term time that is deemed to be in exceptional circumstances and you need to complete and return a holiday form at least 5 days before the intended absence. We will let you know whether or not we are able to authorise your child’s absence as quickly as possible. Holidays are not authorised during term time and will result in a fine.
It should be noted that parents of Nursery and Reception children who start school with us before they are of compulsory school age, must agree to abide by all of our policies and practices, and includes our requirements for attendance of 96%. Nursery children who have persistently low attendance of 85% or less may have their nursery place withdrawn after being given notice through our attendance panel process.
Lateness
Being on time is also very important – if children miss the start of the school day they will be behind everyone else in their understanding in that lesson. The bell rings at 8.40am for children to go in to school. Arriving on time and prepared enables a calm start to the day. If you arrive 5 minutes or more after the start time, you are considered to be late with your child and you may need to complete a late form stating the reason. This will be held with your child’s records and if lateness is identified as a problem you may be required to attend a panel to discuss the issue with the Assistant Head Teacher or an attendance consultant. If a child continues to be late, it could result in a fine or court proceedings.