Attendance

We expect children to come to school every day. Children who are often away from school are put at a huge disadvantage educationally.

The school must collect and report details of absences by law and so these are monitored closely. Lateness is also monitored. Attendance is a performance indicator and figures for the year 2009-10 (terms 1-5) were; 92.6%, 6.5 authorised absence and 0.8 unauthorised absence.

Absences

If your child is absent through sickness or any unavoidable cause, please inform the school by telephone in the first instance. This absence constitutes an authorised absence. A note will be required from you on the child's return. The office will call you on the first day of absence for monitoring purposes.

Leave of Absence During Term Time

Leave of absence, including holidays, during term time will not be authorised.  Holidays should be taken during the school holiday periods.
The school may under exceptional circumstances consider approving a request for leave of absence for a pupil provided the following conditions are met:

• The child’s general attendance has been at 95% or above for the year prior to the request for leave of absence.
• The period of absence is not in Terms 1 and 5 (Due to the importance of settling into a new school year in Term 1 and school assessments in Term 5).
• The child does not have more than 4 broken weeks in any one term.

Applications for leave of absence, including holidays, during term time will be considered on an individual basis and should be applied for in writing to the Headteacher.
If leave of absence is taken during term time without writing to the Headteacher or if the Headteacher is unwilling to authorise the absence, the case will be referred to the Education Welfare Service who may issue a Penalty Notice for £100 (or £50 if paid within 28 days) to each parent for each child taken out of school.