Attendance
ATTENDANCE AND HOLIDAYS
ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL
Statistics show that children who attend school regularly make more progress and achieve better than those who do not. Every lesson is important and it can be difficult for children to catch up if they miss too much of their learning. However, it is highly likely that a child will be unable to attend school at some point, usually due to illness. If this happens, please note the following:
When your child is ill, you should contact us by telephone on 01752 408966 or email at pomphlett.office@horizonmat.com at the earliest opportunity to inform us of the reason for your child being absent. We will then know that your child is absent for a valid reason.
- If we have not heard from you by 10am on the first day of absence, we will text you to alert you to the fact that your child is missing from school.
- If we have still not heard from you by 11am, we will telephone you.
- Keep in contact with us, especially if the absence is a long one.
ABSENCE REQUESTS
The Absence Request form (available from the school office or can be found at the bottom of this page) should be completed by parents/carers when requesting term time absence from school for their child, regardless of whether the absence is for a holiday, or any other reason. Also, all requests for absence should be evidenced based, e.g. medical appointment cards, letters from employers etc.
The Local Authority, through the school's Educational Welfare Officer, also regularly checks the attendance of all children at school and will investigate cases of absence when a child is away for more than an average of one day a fortnight, whether the absence is authorised or not. Please be also be aware that checks are made by the Educational Welfare Officer if your child is regularly late for school.
When deciding whether to allow term time leave, for any reason, the school will consider:
- The time and duration of the leave
- Your child’s record of attendance
- Learning that will be missed
- The child's learning needs
TERM TIME HOLIDAY REQUESTS
The Government changed their policy regarding school attendance and new legal regulations came into force from September 2013. This means that holidays from school in term time have been removed from the regulations and therefore Headteachers are no longer allowed to authorise absence from school unless it is due to exceptional circumstances. Schools have received specific guidance from the Department for Education which lists reasons that are or are not acceptable.
The law does not grant parents an automatic right to take their child out of school during term time. If the request is for an absence in term time you must have Parental Responsibility and be the parent with whom the child normally lives. Permission must be sought in advance and must be for exceptional circumstances. If you do not have Parental Responsibility and/or normally live with the child you must seek the consent of the parent who does and that person should complete this form. Schools will only consider requests from that parent and absences will only be authorised in exceptional circumstances.
If the school refuses your request and the child is still taken out of school, this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence and may make you liable to a fine of £60 per parent per child.
During the Summer Term, all children take part in end of year assessments. Those children in Year 2 and Year 6 take part in National Assessment Tests and tasks known as SATs. Because of the importance of these tests, we strongly advise parents not to book holidays in April or May as we will not be able to grant approval in these instances. Your co-operation in this would be greatly appreciated.