Attendance/Absence
Attendance
School doors open at 8.40 am and close at 8.50 am. If you arrive after 8.50 am please enter school via the main door and school office. Arrival after 9.00 am is classed as late. It is important for children to arrive at school punctually every day, unless they are unwell. The school day ends at 3.20 pm for all pupils.
Attendance at school is a statutory requirement from the age of 5.
The school is required to track all pupils’ attendance which will be investigated if it falls below 90%. If you have any problems with your child attending school, it is important to discuss this with the class teacher, Deputy Head or Head Teacher at the earliest point.
Equally, if your arrangements for collecting your child alter, it is important that the class teacher is made aware, or you contact the office to ensure staff are made aware of any changes in a timely fashion.
Absence
If your child is unwell or is absent for any other reason, you MUST inform the school using the free app 
or by emailing or calling the school by 9.15am.
Please follow the link below for help in deciding if your child is too ill to attend school.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/
It is our responsibility as a school to safeguard all our children, which includes knowing why they are not present in school. If we do not have prior notification of absence we will contact you by phone to confirm your child's whereabouts and safety.
The school must be informed of any planned absence in advance. Any request for essential absence should be made to the school on a Leave of Absence form which can be obtained from the school office. Holidays and days out would not be considered essential absences.
Punctuality
Arriving late at school can often be upsetting for a child and disrupts the morning routine for the class. Our school day begins at 8.50. Children arriving after 8.50 should be brought to the main entrance, to the office to be signed in.
Leave of absence during term time - Information for families
Government regulations regarding term time leave of absence are set out in Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013, which govern all requests for leave within term time. When considering such requests for a leave of absence the school is required to act within the law.
This makes clear that Head Teachers should not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. If leave is granted, head teachers are able to determine the number of school days a child can be absent for.
The Government has not defined 'exceptional circumstances' as referred to in the 2013 regulations. It is for the Head Teacher to decide what they view as exceptional. Each application will be considered on a case by case basis and on it's own merits.
Where applications for leave of absence are made in advance and refused, children are expected to be in school on the dates in the application. Absence during that period will be recorded as unauthorised and referred to WCC. This may result in legal action being taken against parents by way of a Fixed Penalty Notice.
It is important to note Fixed Penalty Notices are issued to each parent of each absent child (for example 2 children and 2 parents means each parent will receive 2 invoices in the amount of £120 each, totalling £240 for both children; this is reduced to £60 per child if paid within 21 days).
Where a Fixed Penalty Notice is not paid within the required timeframe as set out in the notice, the matter will be referred to WCC;s Legal Services. Fixed Penalty Notices are issued in accordance with WCC's Code of Conduct for Penalty Notices.
We greatly appreciate parental support to reduce the total amount of days lost to holidays. We are committed to working in partnership with you to support your child to reach their academic targets and to flourish socially. For this to happen we need to keep individual attendance as high as possible - we all need to play our part.
