Attendance
Families have a legal responsibility to ensure their child attends school regularly. While 100% attendance is ideal, we understand that children may occasionally be unwell, and absences due to genuine illness are acceptable. As a school, we carefully monitor attendance and will notify families if their child’s attendance begins to decline.
Should attendance continue to drop, you may be invited to a meeting with the Principal to discuss how we can provide additional support. If attendance does not improve, penalty notices may be considered. If your child has an ongoing medical need, it’s important that you inform the school and provide confirmation of this from medical professionals so that the school can support you with the child’s care as best we can.
Term-time holidays
Families are strongly discouraged from taking holidays during term time, as this significantly impacts children’s learning. Absences during term time will only be authorised by the Principal in exceptional circumstances. Please note that families who take unauthorised term-time holidays may be fined.
Penalty Notices
Penalty notices may be issued in the following situations:
- Term-time holidays
- Unauthorised absences totaling 10 sessions (5 full consecutive days)
Details of Penalties
First Offence
A penalty notice is issued to each parent for each child who was absent:
£60 if paid within 21 days
£120 if paid between 21 and 28 days
Second Offence
If another penalty notice is issued within three years:
£160 per parent, per child if paid within 28 days
Third Offence
If a third penalty notice is issued within three years, legal action may be taken:
Fines of up to £2,500 per parent, per child
Please take the time to read our attendance policy located under the "Our School" tab.
Punctuality
School start time
The school gates open at 8:40 am for registration at 8.45am and lessons begin at 9.00 am.
Finishing time
Good attendance equals the greatest learning
A priority for our school is promoting consistently high attendance. Our analysis of pupil outcomes demonstrates a direct link between consistently good attendance and positive pupil progress.
We work with families to understand and overcome the barriers that may be stopping children from attending school. The school monitors attendance to ensure potential issues are quickly picked up. One of the ways we can help is to signpost parents to other services and to support families to access what they are entitled to.
Our expectation is that children should be in school on average 95% or more over the year and we promote this further through recognition in assembly and close analysis of trends.