Attendance
Children may only miss school for a good reason.
Absence
It is reasonable for your child to be absent because of illness, dental or medical appointments, bereavements and religious observance.
It is important that we hear from parents or carers about an absence – not from the children. You can call the office on 020 7272 9627, select option 1, and leave a message with your child’s name and class before 9am. If we don’t hear from you we will get in touch. If no reason for absence has been given, we may have to escalate to the Headteacher or other authority.
There is no entitlement to leave during term time, and the school will not authorise absences for holidays or trips that could reasonably be taken during school holidays. In an instance where there are exceptional cirumstances, a headteacher may authorise a short absence from school.
The school will not authorise leave for:
- Family holidays in term time.
- Travel linked to cheaper flights or accommodation.
- Birthdays or other routine family celebrations.
- Any travel/leave request with less than 4 weeks’ notice given.
Examples of circumstances which may be considered exceptional include:
- Religious observance (where the day is exclusively set apart by the religious body to which the family belongs - this can only be granted one day per year).
- Funeral of an immediate family member.
- Serious illness or end-of-life circumstances of an immediate family member, particularly where travel abroad is required.
- Armed Forces personnel returning from active service.
- Once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that will significantly benefit the child’s development (e.g. representing the school, borough, or country in a recognised sporting, cultural, or educational event).
If your child can come into school after an appointment, you must report to the school office. Please try and schedule necessary appointments for earlier in the day, as it is disruptive to take children out of school and then have them return later.
Illness / accidents at school
If your child becomes ill or has an accident, we will always contact you, once we have made sure your child is safe and cared for. It is very important that parent’s contact details are up to date and that if necessary someone is available to take their child home. We use a system called medical tracker to log bumps and minor injuries that happen in school, and send a notification via email to a parent/carer. If your child sustains a head injury, the email notification gives some additional information, so that parents are aware of any possible signs of concussion later in the day. If you require us to administer medicine in school you will need to complete a permission form which you can collect from the school office.
To help inform Parents and Carers of when to keep your child off school, when you may need to report an illness to the school, and to provide general information about common childhood illnesses, please refer to the information below
If you have any questions or queries relating to infection control or common childhood illnesses, please use the NHS website which gives clear guidance, and of course, please get in touch with the office directly if you have further queries about your child’s health and attendance at school.