Attendance

Principles

For a child to achieve their full educational potential a high level of school attendance is essential. We are committed to providing an education of the highest quality for all our pupils and endeavour to provide an environment where all pupils feel valued and welcome. Parents and pupils play a part in making our school successful. Every child has a right to access the education to which he/she is entitled. Parents and teachers share the responsibility for supporting and promoting excellent school attendance and punctuality for all. It is our duty to consistently strive to achieve a goal of 100% attendance for all children.

The school displays a positive and pro-active ethos that places high value on attendance and punctuality, as well as valuing its partnership with parents/carers to promote good attendance. This policy advocates close working relationships with all stakeholders to provide a cohesive approach to tackling attendance.

Absence from School
Please telephone the school or email the school office explaining your child’s absence. We are required to indicate reasons for absence in the registers and to publish annually the number of children who are absent without authorisation. All absences must be notified; otherwise they will be counted as unauthorised by the DfE (Department for Education). If your child has a medical appointment then the school Office Staff will need to have evidence of this appointment to authorise it.

If you wish to take your child out of school during school time, for example for a family holiday  please complete a form from the school office; however this must only be for exceptional cases. Permission must be requested before the holiday takes place and must be for exceptional circumstances. These must be explained on the request form. We follow guidelines agreed within the Pinnacle Trust (Sandy and surrounding area schools) for the authorisation of term time absence.
​
Registers are checked on a weekly basis and your attention will be drawn to any absences that we have not been informed about. 

The school's Attendance Officer may also call if your child has regular and frequent absences. In the case of stomach upsets, it is important that children are kept away from school for at least 48 hours after the last attack has taken place as such upsets spread very quickly in a school.

For further details on school attendance please see our Attendance Policy