Our Academy expectations of attendance and punctuality are high.

Being on time and coming to school everyday on time is vital so that learning is not missed. The Academy day starts at 8.45am for all Primary School pupils.

Morning Registration

Absence notification

If your child is absent from school please let us know. If we do not hear from you, we will initially send a text message requesting your confirmation of why your child is absent.  If we still do not hear back from you, we will endeavour to contact you via telephone or home visit.

ABSENCE

An authorised absence is:

• Illness (medical evidence will be requested)
• Illness with a risk to others (infection).
• A death in the immediate family.
• A religious holiday (explained in advance).

An unauthorised absence is:

• When there is no suitable or acceptable explanation for the child’s absence.
• Holidays are not condoned by the academy and they are treated as an unauthorised absence.
• Medical and dental appointments which are made in school time.

We monitor the attendance of all pupils on a weekly basis, this includes missed sessions and/or lateness. If your child's attendance declines you will be contacted via the school office.

We promote the importance of good attendance to all children. Awards are given on a weekly basis to the class with the best attendance. We award end of term certificates to children who have had 100% attendance. 

Parents have a responsibility for ensuring their child attends the Academy regularly and punctually. The Academy expects that all parents communicate with them, either in writing or by telephone, giving a reason:

1. In advance of any planned absence.
2. Immediately following any unplanned absence.
3. During any absence expected to last more than three days.

Failure to comply with this requirement will mean that your child will have unauthorised absences on their attendance record and this could lead to a referral to the Education Entitlement Team.

If your leave of absence request has not been authorised by the Academy you may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice by the Local Authority. This could result in a fine of up to £120 per parent per child.

Persistent absentees

A pupil of compulsory school age who has an absence rate of 10% or more (attendance of 90% or less) will be classed as a persistent absentee.

Penalty Notices can be issued for any of the following;

• The pupil has attendance levels of 90% or below and at least 7 sessions of unauthorised absence within an 6-week period (up to 3 penalty notices may be issued in any academic year).
• Persistent late arrival at school after the register has closed contributing to a level of attendance of 90% or below;
• Leave of absence in term time which has not been authorised by the school;
• Not remaining within the dates agreed for any authorised leave of absence;

Requests for holidays during term time

The law states that for your child to be considered to attend school regularly they must be at school every day they are required to be there by the head teacher. This was confirmed in a Supreme Court ruling in 2017.

Therefore, you have to get permission from the Principal if you want to take your child out of school during term time.

You can only do this if you make an application to the Principal in advance (as a parent the child normally lives with). The Principal will then decide whether to agree the leave of absence and whether this is marked as authorised or unauthorised in the attendance register.

Please note that head teachers are only permitted to agree a leave of absence in term time for exceptional circumstances.

It is at the discretion of the head teacher to determine how many days your child can be away from school if leave is granted.

Requests for holidays should be made a minimum of four weeks in advance. Holiday forms are available on request only from the main Academy office.

We aim to support parents in their legal responsibility to ensure that their child attends school regularly and punctually.