Absence Policy
BENGEWORTH FIRST SCHOOL
POLICY ON SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
The aim of this policy is to encourage excellent attendance by all our pupils over the school year.
Timekeeping
Children should arrive in good time for school in the morning and specifically before the bell goes for the beginning of the school day. A late arrival can be distressing for the child and disruptive to the whole class. Children arriving late for school and after registration has been taken, will be marked as absent on the register and parents should therefore formally notify the school of the reason in writing.
Unavoidable absences
When a child is unable to attend school eg due to sickness, parents should contact the school on the first morning of absence.
On the child’s return to school, parents should send in a letter or email the school, formally notifying the dates of absence and the reason for the absence.
Where a child needs to take time out of school to attend an appointment (eg to visit a doctor or dentist), the class teacher should be notified in writing and in advance. Parents are encouraged to arrange appointments outside school hours wherever possible.
Requests for planned absence
The school recognises that there may be some occasions when a child will need to be taken out of school eg where there is a family bereavement or to attend a religious event.
However, parents are not entitled to take any holidays during term time, not even for a single day. Any absence has a detrimental impact on the child’s education and is disruptive to the teacher and class. Furthermore, pupil attendance is one of the indicators considered by Ofsted when inspecting schools.
It is the policy of Bengeworth’s Governing Body to discourage parents from taking children out of school on holiday and it will not authorise any holiday absence during term time, unless there is a genuine reason why holidays can only be taken at this time.
Parents who wish to take their child out of school must formally apply for permission at least 6 weeks before the proposed absence, using the form attached at Appendix A. The Head Teacher will then contact the parents to discuss the request.
However, should the period of absence requested mean that the child’s attendance record for that school year falls below 95% (or 180 days out of 190) it will normally be declined. If the period of absence does not cause the attendance record to fall below 95% the head Teacher will consider the reason for the request. Having considered the impact of the absence on the pupil and school, it is the Head Teacher’s decision whether or not to approve the application.
Holiday requests of more than one day that are requested without six weeks notice will not be granted and absence will be unauthorised.
Parents are advised that where a request for absence is not granted and the child is then absent without permission, this period will be recorded as Unauthorised Absence and may be investigated by the Local Authority.
Monitoring and reviewing
It is the role of the Head Teacher to ensure that this policy is fully implemented. Every year, in the summer term, the governors will review this policy as part of the Monitoring and Curriculum Committee’s monitoring of the effectiveness of the school’s policies.
Signed Janet Osborne Date 21st July 2009
(Chair of governors)