Attendance

The law requires that children of compulsory school age receive a suitable full-time education.

Parents have a legal duty to make sure that their child attends school regularly.  The Department for Education considers that unnecessary absence from school is unacceptable and must be prevented and tackled by schools: promoting regular school attendance is a key component in the Government’s strategy to raise educational standards.

The governors and staff of Forty Hill Church of England Primary School believe that if children attend school regularly and punctually they will be best able to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them and establish a commitment to work which will be carried forward throughout their education career and into adulthood.

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Schools have a responsibility to ensure that pupils attend regularly and punctually.

We monitor attendance closely and the Headteacher will write to any parents where attendance causes concern.

If attendance is 95% or less, this will have a detrimental effect on a child’s progress.

90% attendance for a child is equivalent to:

• Missing one morning every week
• Missing 4 weeks in a school year

10 minutes late every day is over a term missed in your child’s school career. A few minutes missed means your child loses out!

Absence protocols

Holidays

The taking of family holidays during term time is strongly discouraged.  Authorisation for leave of absence will only be granted if there are exceptional extenuating circumstances. Absences must be requested in writing to the Headteacher and she will decide whether it is authorised or unauthorised.

Absence due to Illness

Parents are asked to telephone/email before 9am on the first day of absence due to illness, to explain why their child is not in school. In the absence of any communication from parents, the school office staff will attempt to make contact to ensure the child is safe. 

The school follows the Public Health Agency guidelines regarding the recommended times that children should be kept away from school following an infection. In particular, please note that children should not return to school for a period of 48 hours from the last bout of sickness or diarrhoea.

Medical appointments

For medical appointments, a note should be handed to the class teacher and it is sufficient to give this in on the morning of the appointment.  However, it should be noted that it is expected that routine dental appointments and non-urgent medical appointments will normally be made outside school hours.  Unless the appointment is unavoidable, it will be marked as unauthorised in the class register.