Aims

We are committed to meeting our obligations with regards to school attendance by:

• Promoting good attendance and reducing absence, including persistent absence
• Ensuring every child over the age of five has access to full-time education to which they are entitled
• Acting early to address patterns of absence

We will also support parents to perform their legal duty to ensure their children of compulsory school age attend regularly, and will promote and support punctuality in attending school.

What the Law States

The law entitles every child over the age of five to full-time education suitable to their age and any special educational need they may have. Every parent/ carer has a legal responsibility to make sure their child receives that education either by attendance at a school or by education otherwise than at a school.

Where parents/carers decide to have their child registered at school, they have an additional legal duty to ensure their child attends that school regularly. This means their child must attend every day that the school is open, except in a small number of circumstances such as being too ill to attend or being given permission by the Headteacher for an absence from the school.

Reporting Absences (a parent/ carer's responsibility)

The child's parent/carer must notify the school on the first day of an unplanned absence as soon as practically possible by calling school on (01724861602) or by reporting the absence using the ParentMail app. It is not appropriate for absences to be reported privately to staff directly to their own mobile phone.

If a child is absent, and no reason is provided, then admin staff will attempt to make contact by phoning, or texting for a explanation. This will include making attempts to each of the contacts supplied. If this proves unsuccessful, staff will then undertake a house visit to check on the safety and well-being of the absent child. In the event that staff are still unable to determine a reason, consideration will be given whether to following the school's safeguarding procedures. This may involve contacting other agencies, such as the police, or Children's Services.

Admin staff will routinely contact parents/carers for updates if the absence is more than one day.