Student Absence

We always ask that parents/carers contact school as early as possible to inform us of their child’s absence from school and the reason for the absence.

If a message is not received to explain the absence we will attempt to contact parents/carers on the contact numbers we hold on our school system. In most cases we will send out a text message. It is therefore very important that parents keep us updated with their contact details. There is also a slip to complete in the student planner for reporting student absences/appointments.

If we are unable to confirm a reason for a pupil absence the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and in some cases the details will be passed to the Local Authority who are responsible for any legal action regarding school attendance. Pupils who persistently arrive late to school will be marked as absent for the morning session.  The absence will be included in the unauthorised absence totals and passed to the Local Authority.

We request that any medical appointments are made out of school time. We understand that this is not always possible so in these cases we ask that pupils attend school around their appointments. We rarely authorise a full day of absence for a medical appointment.

For prolonged or re-occurring bouts of illness or medical appointments we will request that parents obtain a note from the GP or other medical practitioner to cover the absences and to prevent further action being taken by the Local Authority.

The school does not authorise any term time absences due to holidays unless there are exceptional circumstances.  Please be aware that parents/carers of pupils who have unauthorised absences due to a term time holiday of 5 school days  or more will be issued with a Penalty Notice fine of £120 per parent per child (reduced to £60 per parent per child if paid within 3 weeks).