Absence &amp; Attendance

Attendance Matters

Most parents want their child(ren) to get on well in life. Children only get one chance at school, and their chance of a successful future may be affected by not attending school regularly. Poor attendees may not be able to keep up with school work or miss out on parts of the curriculum. This can affect their rate of progress and overall level of attainment. It’s not only the academic work: missing out on the social side of school life can affect children’s ability to make and keep friendships. Setting good attendance patterns from an early age will also help children later on at secondary school. Being on time is also vital. Arriving late at school can be very disruptive for the late child, the teacher and other children in the class.

Governors and staff fully appreciate the challenges of absence from learning, for both the school and for families. There is a clear link between children who miss school and the progress that they make.

Please see the school Attendance Policy for expectations of pupils, parents/carers, school and the Local Authority.

Term Time Holiday

There is no entitlement to take a child out of school for a family holiday. Absence during term time is discretionary and not an automatic entitlement. Any request for absence during term time must be exceptional and can only be authorised by the Headteacher. If you must take your child out of school for any period of time during term time, you must complete the Withdrawal from Learning form (available for download below). Holiday prices and the fact that parents have booked a holiday before checking with the school are not special reasons. Absence for a family holiday can result in pupils with poor attendance becoming persistent absentees.

If you have any queries, please contact the School office by telephone (01273 453515) or email.

School staff and their role in attendance

The school's attendance officer, Mrs Heasman, the deputy head, Ms Astle and school counsellor and designated safeguarding officer, Miss Loom, work together to assist families in improving pupil attendance at school. Close monitoring of attendance will be undertaken by Mrs Heasman and the deputy headteacher. When a child's attendance is a cause for concern, the school staff will contact parents/carers and work alongside families to find strategies to improve attendance at school.

StudyBugs

We use an online reporting system called Studybugs which is a more efficient and secure system for reporting your child’s absence due to illness.
If you haven’t already, please download the free Studybugs app, or register on the Studybugs website, and use it to tell us whenever your child is ill and unable to attend school.

Get the app or register now (https://studybugs.com/about/parents)

Top 3 reasons to use Studybugs

1. It is integrated with our systems so we know right away if your child is unaccounted for.

2. It is quick and easy to register and use and automatically reminds you to keep us posted.

3. You’ll be helping the NHS and other public health organisations to improve children's health

Absence in case of medical appointments

Please provide advance notice where possible of any medical appointments for your child. It is also preferable to bring in or email a copy of the letter with details of the appointment.

Is my child too ill for school?

It can be tricky deciding whether or not to keep your child off school, nursery or playgroup when they're unwell.

There are government guidelines for schools and nurseries about managing specific infectious diseases at GOV.UK. These say when children should be kept off school and when they shouldn't.

If you do keep your child at home, it's important to phone the school or nursery on the first day. Let them know that your child won't be in and give them the reason.

If your child is well enough to go to school but has an infection that could be passed on, such as a cold sore or head lice, let their teacher know.

Other illnesses

Follow this advice for other illnesses:

Coughs and colds

It's fine to send your child to school with a minor cough or common cold. But if they have a fever, keep them off school until the fever goes.

Encourage your child to throw away any used tissues and to wash their hands regularly.

High temperature

If your child has a high temperature, keep them off school until it goes away.

Chickenpox

If your child has chickenpox, keep them off school until all the spots have crusted over.

This is usually about 5 days after the spots first appeared.

Cold sores

There's no need to keep your child off school if they have a cold sore.

Encourage them not to touch the blister or kiss anyone while they have the cold sore, or to share things like cups and towels.

Conjunctivitis

You don't need to keep your child away from school if they have conjunctivitis.

Do get advice from your pharmacist. Encourage your child not to rub their eyes and to wash their hands regularly.

COVID-19

If your child has mild symptoms, such as a runny nose, sore throat, or slight cough, and feels well enough, they can go to school.

Your child should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if they have symptoms of COVID-19 and they either:

have a high temperature
do not feel well enough to go to school or do their normal activities

What to do if your child has tested positive

Your child is no longer required to do a COVID-19 rapid lateral flow test if they have symptoms. But if your child has tested positive for COVID-19, they should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days after the day they took the test.

Ear infection

If your child has an ear infection and a high temperature or severe earache, keep them off school until they're feeling better or their high temperature goes away.

Hand, foot and mouth disease

If your child has hand, foot and mouth disease but seems well enough to go to school, there's no need to keep them off.

Encourage your child to throw away any used tissues straight away and to wash their hands regularly.

Head lice and nits

There's no need to keep your child off school if they have head lice.

You can treat head lice and nits without seeing a GP.

Impetigo

If your child has impetigo, they'll need treatment from a GP, often with antibiotics.

Keep them off school until all the sores have crusted over and healed, or for 48 hours after they start antibiotic treatment.

Encourage your child to wash their hands regularly and not to share things like towels and cups with other children at school.

Ringworm

If your child has ringworm, see your pharmacist unless it's on their scalp, in which case you should see a GP.

It's fine for your child to go to school once they have started treatment.

Scarlet fever

If your child has scarlet fever, they'll need treatment with antibiotics from a GP. Otherwise they'll be infectious for 2 to 3 weeks.

Your child can go back to school 24 hours after starting antibiotics.

Slapped cheek syndrome (fifth disease)

You don't need to keep your child off school if they have slapped cheek syndrome because, once the rash appears, they're no longer infectious.

But let the school or teacher know if you think your child has slapped cheek syndrome.

Sore throat

You can still send your child to school if they have a sore throat. But if they also have a high temperature, they should stay at home until it goes away.

A sore throat and a high temperature can be symptoms of tonsillitis.

Threadworms

You don't need to keep your child off school if they have threadworms.

Speak to your pharmacist, who can recommend a treatment.

Vomiting and diarrhoea

Children with diarrhoea or vomiting should stay away from school until they have not been sick or had diarrhoea for at least 2 days (48 hours).