Good Attendance is Vital
Our Attendance Policy can be found below. It states that “regular attendance is essential in enabling pupils to get the most from their school experience, including their attainment, wellbeing, and wider life chances… The law entitles every child of compulsory school age to an efficient, full-time education suitable to their age, aptitude, and any special educational need they may have… Where parents decide to have their child registered at school, they have an additional legal duty to ensure their child attends that school regularly, on time. This means their child must attend every day that the school is open, except in a small number of allowable circumstances such as being too ill to attend or being given permission for an absence in advance from the school.”
If you need to take your child out of school in exceptional circumstances, a form must be collected from the school office and completed at least two weeks in advance. Guidance will be followed as to whether this is authorised or not and if the unauthorised period extends beyond ten sessions, parents can expect to receive a penalty notice. We monitor attendance carefully every week and will be especially aware of children whose attendance is approaching the low, 90% level. If your child’s attendance is approaching 90%, we will invite you in for a meeting to discuss any concerns or issues you may be having.
Punctuality
Lateness is also disruptive to a child’s learning; a child arriving late prevents a teacher from teaching and other learners from learning. All teachers have timetabled a short daily task which supports retention and recall of learnt material at the beginning of the school day. If this is missed, children will find it harder to have positive learning experiences. In line with safeguarding requirements, no adult will be admitted to the school site after the bell has been rung at 8.50am. Arrivals after this time for any reason, should come to the red Castle Lane gate where a member of SLT will let children in. The main road crossing entrance is for children only after 8.50am, and for adults leaving the site. If you arrive after 8.50am, you will be asked to go round to the Castle Lane red gate.
Unavoidable Absences
If your child is absent from school please phone or email the school office - by 9.00am at the latest and preferably earlier - to let us know the reason for their absence, so that we can complete the class registers correctly. If we do not receive a phone call on the first day of absence we will phone to check why your child is absent. Planned absences in term time are only authorised in exceptional circumstances - please see the Attendance Policy for details.
Please send your child to school if you are unsure whether they are ill or not, and we will monitor them closely. If your child appears unwell during the day and is unfit to be in school we will contact you. If your child has sickness or diarrhoea they must not return for 48 hrs.
Any request for medication to be given in school must be in line with our policy. Inhalers for asthma and epi-pens will be kept in school after discussion about your child’s needs. A form must be completed for all medication. We have an allergy safety policy and all staff are trained annually on when and how to administer adrenaline in line with Benedict’s Law.