We ask that you contact school either by letter or telephone, if your child is ill as early as possible on the first day. It is school policy that parents/carers are contacted on the second day if no explanation for your child’s absence has been received by school. Frequent unexplained absences or lateness is dealt with by the EWO. However, involvement of the EWO is rare as parents and school work well together to achieve our very good attendance rate. The government requires schools to record and publish rates of unauthorised absences (which includes absence or lateness without a reason).
| 2002-2003 | |
|---|---|
| Percentage half-days missed through authorised absence | 4.7%* |
| Half-days missed through unauthorised absence | 0.0% |
* A proportion of these absences are due to children having time off from school for holidays and we do emphasise that holidays should only be taken in term time in unavoidable circumstances. This can be very disruptive to children’s education and there is some evidence to show that this may lead to under-attainment.
NB: Unavoidable/exceptional circumstances
These do not include holidays being cheaper out of term time or general preference. In order to authorize time out of school I need to be assured of the unavoidable circumstances.
Statutory testing and assessments are carried out in May. May holidays are not authorized and need to be recorded as unauthorized.
I do hope that you appreciate the need for us to work together on these matters for the best interests of your child.
It is a legal requirement to inform you that in the case of severe breakdown of relationships between home and school, there is a statutory procedure to resolve it. This is very rare in the generally excellent relationships engendered between our school teachers, children and parents. Details can be found in school.