Attendance
Absence
If your child is absent from school, you are requested to contact the admin office before 9:15 a.m.
If the administation team have not heard from you by early morning they will contact you to establish why your child is not in school.
If a parent persistently fails to contact the school, the school will automatically enter the child as ‘unauthorised’ and the Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) will be informed. Where children are persistently absent their attendance will be monitored and the parent informed. The EWO meets every three weeks to monitor attendance across the school.
A letter must be sent to school with the child on their return to school and for any planned medical appointments.
Attendance
School Attendance Policy – see ‘About Us’ – policies
For many years parents in England had the right to request permission to remove their children from school in order for the children to go on a family holiday, or for exceptional circumstances. This right was embedded in The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006. However, the Coalition government changed these regulations and issued the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013.
What this meant for the school
Exwick Heights Primary School carried out the new directive from September 1st 2013. The amendments made clear that Head teachers could not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there were exceptional circumstances. Head teachers are required to determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if the leave is granted.
What does this mean for you the parent?
• No requests for holidays during term time will be authorised.
• Absence requests will always be considered fairly and on an individual basis.
• Authorisation will be given for ‘exceptional circumstances’ and ‘genuine illness’.
• Where there is doubt regarding genuine illness, (more than four consecutive days absence with no contact, days taken either side of a school holiday or the pupil/other parents stating they have been on holiday) medical evidence will be requested. If this is not forthcoming the absences will not be authorised.
• We strongly advise you to ensure grandparents, uncles and aunts are aware of the new legislation so they do not book surprise holidays for your children as they will not be authorised.
• Penalty Notices will be issued on all unauthorised absences.
For more information go to: https://www.gov.uk/school-attendance-absence
