Please call the school office as soon as possible and before 9.30am to report an absence.

When it is necessary for children to be absent from school, parents are asked to telephone school to let us know and explain the reason for the absence.

The school doors close at 9.00am and any child arriving after that time will be marked as 'late'. The child will receive a 'late slip' which they must hand to their teacher. We will record on the slip how many minutes late the child is. 

In terms of safeguarding, if we are not informed of the absence by 9.30am, we will text to ask you the reason why, and if necessary we will ring the child’s home. If we still have no contact from you, the Attendance Officer will try to visit your home and the child will be marked with an unauthorised absence. If your child is absent for more than three days please ring school with an update.

The Headteacher should be notified as soon as possible in the case of prolonged or serious illness or accident. Instructions from the Department for Education state that an absence is unauthorised if the school is not notified of the reason for it or if the school does not grant permission for the absence. Unauthorised absences are recorded on the child’s report.

We use a Traffic Light system to identify pupils’ attendance and discuss individual cases on a weekly basis. Where children have sound reasons for absence, there is no intervention. However, where children are beginning to fall into unacceptable patterns of attendance, we refer to our Family Support Worker or Attendance Officer. Green: over 95%, Amber: 90-95%, Red: below 90%. The Attendance Officer will visit the parents if we have concerns over attendance.

We expect all children to arrive on time for school except in exceptional circumstances, and therefore set a 99% punctuality target. If your child has any kind of medical appointment, please let us know in advance, as it can be marked as an authorised absence. Please be aware that medical appointments will effect your child’s overall attendance. A form should be completed at least 24 hours prior to the appointment. This must be authorised by the School Business Manager.