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Attendance

Attendance Information

New Attendance legislation came into force on 19th of August which impacts how Local Authorities and Schools issue Penalty Notices (fines) for unauthorised absences. Central to the statutory guidance for schools is the premise that schools should identify when a pupils’ attendance is becoming a concern and then work alongside parents and pupils to remove any barriers to attendance.

There will be a Support First Model approach: 

  • We will notify you if you’re child’s attendance is a concern and start a conversation with you to understand the reasons why and if we can offer any support.

  • If you receive a letter, telephone call, invite to a meeting its important that you engage with these so that we can understand any reasons for absence and agree support, if appropriate.

  • If we agree an action plan with you to help improve attendance it is important that those agreements are followed.

The school day runs from 8:45am to 3:25pm

Drop off between

  • 8:45am & 8:55am

Pick up 

  • 11:45am, 2:50pm or 3:20pm (Nursery)
  • 3:25pm (Main School)

Children will be marked as late if they arrive between 8:55am - 9:25am. After 9:25am attendance registers will be marked as unauthorised. All children arriving late must be signed in using the digital Inventry system by a parent/guardian. 

Please be prompt to pick up your child at the end of the day. For later collections, children must be signed out using the digital system. If you are having difficulty collecting on time, please speak to Mrs Foley or contact Orchids Childcare to see if they have space for your child. 

Illness

If a child is absent from school parents should contact the school on the first day of absence via a phone call or an email to inform the school of the reason for absence. Parents should give details of the nature of any illness including symptoms or diagnosis.

Parents are expected to contact the school by 10am to report an illness and to maintain contact with the school throughout the absence.

Not all illness requires an absence from school. For minor childhood ailments such as coughs, colds, ear aches we would not expect children to be absent.  However, when a parent makes the assessment that their child is unfit for school they should follow the above absence process. No work is set for children who are ill as they should be resting. 

Medical appointments

Parents/Guardians should avoid making routine medical appointments and dental appointments during the school day. In the majority of cases, appointments can be made outside of the school day/during the school holidays.

Where appointments have to be taken during the school day, only the time for the appointment and travel to and from will be classed as an authorised absence.  Pupils are expected to return to school for the remainder of the day or attend school prior to the appointment taking place. 

Parents/Guardians are required to provide a copy of the appointment letter or text message, so that school's can authorise the absence.

There is full guidance and linked paperwork below, to support with all attendance matters. 

Requesting Time Off During Term Time

  • This form should be completed and submitted to the school at least 4 school weeks before the start of the proposed leave of absence.
  • All requests for Leave of absence will be considered by the school using this form to assess whether the leave was due to exceptional circumstances. Parent/carers do not have any legal entitlement to take their child on holiday during term time. Leave of absence for the purpose of holidays in term time will not be granted. You will be notified by the school whether permission has been granted for the leave of absence.  Any leave of absences taken which have not been requested in advance will be recorded as unauthorised.
  • Leave of absence taken without permission may result in the issuing of a penalty notice by the local authority of £160. Any Fixed Penalty Notices issued and/or prosecution will apply to each parent for each child who fails to attend school. Further information can be found at: https://www.solihull.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/school-attendance  
  • Parents have a legal duty to ensure that their children of compulsory school age receive a suitable full-time education through regular attendance at a school or otherwise (i.e. home education) (Section 7 Education Act 1996).
  • If a child who is of compulsory school age, who is registered at school and fails to attend regularly, it is the parent that will be guilty of an offence (Section 444 (1) Education Act 1996).

Headteachers shall not grant any leave of absence during term time unless:

  • An application has been made in advance, by the parent with whom the child normally resides AND they consider there to be exceptional circumstances relating to the application.
  • The Headteacher must be satisfied that exceptional circumstances warrant the granting of a leave of absence.
  • The Headteacher can determine how long an absence should be and any additional absence will not be authorised.

Leave of Absence paperwork

  1. Taking your child out of school in term time
    pdf