Attendance

Attendance

Regular and punctual school attendance is important. Pupils need to attend school regularly if they are to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them by law. St John the Baptist RC Primary School fully recognises its responsibilities to ensure pupils are in school and on time, therefore having access to learning for the maximum number of days and hours.

Parents/Carers are responsible for:

ï‚· Ensuring that their child attends school regularly and punctually unless prevented from doing so by illness or attendance at a medical appointment.

ï‚· Contacting the school office on the first morning of absence.

ï‚· Informing the school in advance of any medical appointments in school time. For the absence to be recorded as a medical absence we do require evidence from the doctor or dentist. (Appointment card/letter)

ï‚· Making requests for authorised absence in term time, only if absolutely necessary as these are not automatically authorised.

ï‚· Talking to the school as soon as possible about any child’s reluctance to come to school so that problems can be quickly identified and dealt with.

Please see the attendance policy below for more information. 

Absence

LATE ARRIVAL

Doors open at 8.35am for a 8.45am start. If for any reason your child is late to school, please report to the school office and sign your child (the screen on entrance to the main office). If you know in advance your child is going to be late for school, where possible please order your child's lunch via the app or call the school office to pre-order your child's meal. If your child arrives to school late and has not pre-ordered their lunch, we cannot guarantee that they will receive their meal choice. 

APPOINTMENTS 

It is expected that any medical appointments are booked during out of school hours. If this is not possible, and your child will be arriving late to school or need to be picked up during the school day, please note the school office will ask to see proof of the appointment. This can be any paperwork relating to the appointment or digital text/email reminders. 

ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL

It is the parent's responsibility to inform the school if your child is going to be absent. Absences should be reported as soon as possible and by no later than 9.00am when registers close. You can do this by either telephoning the school office and leaving a voicemail on 01706 647195.

If you have not informed school of your child's absence by 9.00am, the school office will call to investigate why your child is absent from school. If we do not receive a reply, we will contact any other adult identified on the school's systems. 

Until we are provided with a reason as to why your child is absent, it will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. If school is concerned over repeated absences, the Education Welfare Officer will be asked to call you to offer help and advice. 

If your child is absent due to sickness and diarrhea, we follow the guidelines of the government which states that children who are suffering with sickness and diarrhea should stay away from school for at least 48 hours. (This is from the last incident of sickness or diarrhea). 

HOLIDAYS AND LEAVE OF ABSENCE

Term dates can be found on the term dates page of this website. It is expected that your children will take holidays with their families during the times when the school is closed. The government regulations on taking children out of school during term time have altered radically and it would be advisable to read the Government policy on this - please click on the document 'National changes to the penalty notice framework' below.

We reward good attendance every week in our Celebration Worship and termly with individual pin badges.