Attendance and Absence

Our school is officially open from 9.00am until 3.30pm each weekday ensuring that we deliver a minimum of 32.5 hours schooling each week.

Our gates, though, do open between 8.40am and 8.45am each school day and parents are welcome to drop children in the mornings at this time.

Why is attendance so important?

Our curriculum is designed to build knowledge step by step. When a child misses school - even for a short time - they can miss vital learning that underpins future lessons. This often makes it harder for them to catch up and understand key concepts later on.

School is more than just lessons. Absence means missing special assemblies, performances, group projects, and social activities that help children develop friendships and feel part of the school community.

Working Together to Improve Attendance

Parents can help by:

• Ensuring children arrive on time for registration (8:40am - 9:00am).
• Informing the school by 9:15am on the first day of absence and every day after.
• Avoiding holidays during term time.

Your child’s education is a partnership between home and school. Thank you for supporting regular attendance - every minute counts!

How We Monitor Attendance

We record attendance and punctuality daily and work closely with the Local Authority and Department for Education to track patterns and offer support where needed. Our goal is for every child to achieve at least 96% attendance, ensuring they access learning almost every day.

Each week, the class with the highest attendance wins the Attendance Award in our celebration assembly.

If Your Child Is Ill

We understand children sometimes become unwell. Deciding whether to keep them home can be tricky—the NHS offers helpful advice here: Is my child too ill for school?

If your child is ill:

• Contact the school office as soon as possible, and no later than 9:15am.
• Provide details of the illness (e.g., temperature, vomiting).
• Keep in touch daily with updates and expected return date.

If we don’t receive enough information, the absence may not be authorised.

Medical Appointments

Please try to arrange appointments outside school hours. If this isn’t possible, notify the school in advance.

Religious Observance

To request absence for a religious observance:

• Complete a Request for Absence Form and submit it to the office.
• Absence can only be authorised for days set apart by your religious body.
• Additional days before or after the observance will not be authorised.

Other Absences (Including Holidays)

With 175 non-school days available for family time, any request for absence during term time must be for exceptional circumstances. The following reasons will not be authorised:

• Visiting family or friends
• Birthdays
• Cheaper holidays
• Tickets to events

• Unable to take a holiday in school holidays due to work commitments.

If you believe your circumstances are exceptional, please provide full details. Forms are available from the school office.

Reminder

We cannot authorise holidays during term time except in the most exceptional cases. Cost is not considered an exceptional reason.

If your child has 5 or more days of unauthorised absence (10 sessions) within a 10-week period, you may receive a penalty notice.

Important Change

INSET days can now be included when calculating consecutive absences. Taking four days off next to an INSET day may result in a fine.

Click Here for our Attendance Policy