Attendance and Medical Conditions

Attendance

Children who attend school regularly are given the very best opportunity to benefit from the learning in school.  It is the parents' responsibility to ensure that their child attends school regularly.  Irregular attendance can severely disrupt a child’s academic and social development.  Likewise, when a child arrives late at school, it interrupts the concentration of others and wastes valuable time as the teacher has to repeat information and instructions whilst others have to wait; the late child is at an immediate disadvantage because they may have missed important teaching points.

By law, schools must record absences and the reasons given for these absences, which are coded in class registers.  We ask parents not to remove children from school in term time.  The school holiday dates are published a year in advance and we expect parents to book their family holidays during the school breaks.  If absence in term time is unavoidable, a Leave of Absence form, available from the office, must be completed prior to the planned absence.  Only exceptional reasons can be authorised eg a compassionate reason such as bereavement.  There is no automatic entitlement in law to time off in school term time to go on holiday.  Each request for absence will be considered individually, taking into account attendance records and the potential impact on a child’s progress.

It should be noted that under The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 that the Educational Welfare Service, acting on behalf of Surrey County Council, may issue a Penalty Notice for a child’s unauthorised absence from school.  The amount payable is £60 rising to £120 if not paid promptly and both parents are liable to receive a notice for each child who is absent.

Absence

	Attendance Percentage	Contact with Parent or Carer
Stage 1	A pupil falls below 95% attendance over a two week period	Parent or Carer will be informed by the teacher or Home School Link Worker and may be contacted directly by the Head of School.
Stage 2	A pupil falls below 90% attendance over a two week period - request for medical evidence or similar if applicable	Parent or Carer receives letter from school stating level of attendance and requesting improvement.
Stage 3	Absence percentages remain below 90% without medical evidence or similar	Parent or Carer to be reported to the North West Surrey Inclusion Officer and may be subject to a fine.

Sickness

If your child is unwell and cannot attend school, parents are requested to notify the school on the first day of absence by telephone between 8.00am and 9.30am.  Messages will be recorded by the answer-phone and subsequently checked against the class register.  If no message is received by 9.30am the school office will endeavour to contact you on the telephone contact numbers given by you.  Attempted contact will continue up until 10:30am.

For safety reasons parents will be expected to collect their child form the school reception if taking their child out during the day.

Medical Conditions

The Federation will seek to support, as far as is practical, any child that has a medical condition to ensure his or her health and safety, welfare and inclusion in school life.  Whenever possible, parents should administer medicines to their child at home or by visiting the school during the day.  Where the school accepts responsibility to administer medicine, parents will be required to complete a form giving clear instructions and permission.  All medicines must be kept in the school medical room.  Occasionally, medical plans are needed for specific children.