Attendance & Collection (Times of the School Day)

Attendance

Your child must attend school every day, other than at weekends or on school holidays and other closures. There are 190 school days in a year and 175 non-school days in the year.  These are linked here for your convenience:

The school's attendance policy can be found on the policy page under the key information menu

Absence

You must inform the school if your child will be absent from school.  The school has a legal obligation to contact you/ your other contacts/ visit your home address/ contact relevant agencies and authorities if the reason for your child's absence is unknown.  This is to comply with statutory guidance and safeguarding laws. 

Please report your child's absence before they are due to attend by:

• calling the school office and leaving a message
• emailing the school office with a message

TOP TIP:  you can do this in the middle of the night if your child is unwell and you know they will not be coming to school in the morning.  We will get the message when we arrive in school and will not need to disturb you.

If we have not heard from you by the time registers are taken we will start using all possible methods to contact you/ your other contacts/ the relevant agencies until we know where your child is.

Family Holidays, Appointments and Emergencies

You must only book holidays when school is closed, otherwise the access and attendance department of the local authority may fine you or refer the matter to other agencies.  If you have exceptional reasons for needing to take your child out of school (such as a medical appointment or family emergency) you should contact the head teacher who will review the matter on a case by case basis.

Punctuality

Your child must attend on time.  Pupils who are not in school on time will be assumed absent and will start our absence procedures.  Please contact the school if you are going to be late for any reason, in order to avoid this.  The times of the school day are listed here for your convenience:

Did you know that being 15 minutes late each day is the same as missing two weeks of school over the year? Lateness is just as serious as nonattendance and could also lead to a Fixed Penalty Notice. The start of the school day is an important time for children to develop their social skills with their peers, as well as preparing them for their learning.

Collecting your child from school

Only the people authorised on your collection list will be permitted to take your child from school.  If you need to alter your collection list (either temporarily or permanently) you will only be able to do so via one of the following methods:

• in person at the school office
• by telephone (using the password* you created on your collection list)
• via email from the address we have registered on your child's record

*If you have forgotten your password we will verify your identity by asking questions about the details we have on file.

If you need a child care provider to collect your child you can find one here:  (please remember to put the provider on your child's collection list)

Late collection/ non-collection

You should contact the office as soon as possible if your are unavoidably delayed on your route to school so that we can reassure your child and make arrangements to ensure that your child is comfortable whilst they wait for you.  Persistent late collections will be notified to the relevant agencies as a safeguarding concern.  If your child is not collected the school will inform the relevant agency/ies and follow their advice - which may include handing your child to social services/ the police.