Attendance at St Giles' CE Primary School
Moments Matter, Attendance counts!
Attendance is a priority for St Giles School and also for the Department of Education. We meet half-termly with the Education Welfare Officer to discuss pupil absences, monitor late arrivals and consider support for families that need it. Classroom doors open at 8:45am and the expectation is that all children should be in their classrooms, ready to learn by 8:55am.
At the start of the school day, most classes complete early morning work, which includes a range of consolodation tasks and key skills. Children arriving late to school miss out on this important learning time. Missing 10 minutes each day might not seem like much but it actually equates to over 6 school days lost in a year! If you are struggling with morning arrival times, please let us know and we can work together to find a way to support you.
Reporting a child absent
When reporting a child absent, please call the School Office on 01743 356579 before 9am and leave a voicemail stating your child's name, class and reason for absence. Any absence that has not been reported will be followed up with a telephone call/text from the School Office, and may result in a safe & well check conducted by a member of school staff or the Education Welfare Officer if we do not hear from you. For safeguarding purposes, please continue to report absence for each day your child is not in school.
Children with diarrhoea or vomiting should stay away from school until they have not been sick or had diarrhoea for at least 2 days (48 hours).If you are unsure if your child is well enough to attend school, you may find the following NHS guidance useful: Is my child too ill for school?
For detailed information on our Attendance Policy, please click here.
Prescribed medicine
Leave in Term Time
It's known that missing school for any reason can cause a child to fall behind in their learning. Sometimes children will find it difficult to settle back into school after a break.
When children are taken out of school during term not only does the education of the individual child suffer, but it can cause disruption to the rest of the class, with teachers having to repeat work and give extra help so that the pupil can catch up.
There are 190 school days in an academic year, leaving 175 days free for families to take holidays. Not taking into account other absences, just taking a fortnight’s holiday each year means that, between the ages of five to 16, a child would miss around half an academic year of learning.
What does the law say?
As of 1 September 2013 there has been a change in the The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006. Where there used to be an option for headteachers to grant leave of absence for the purpose of a family holiday during term time in ‘special circumstances’ of up to ten days in a year, this has been removed.
Whilst we appreciate that family circumstances differ, Headteachers are legally only allowed to authorise a leave of absence when an application has been made in advance, and it is felt to be for an exceptional circumstance. Under the guidance, a family holiday is not deemed an exceptional circumstance.
Procedure
If you wish to make a request for a leave of absence during term-time, please submit your request to our Headteacher, using the form below, at least 2-weeks before the requested date. Parents will then be informed of the school’s decision via email (ideally within 5 working days). Paper copies of the form are available from reception if required.
Please note that leave will only be authorised in exceptional circumstances and this will depend on the reason for absence, the time of year, the child's attendance record and current year group. Please ensure that forms are submitted at least 2-weeks before the leave is due to start.
What happens if my child goes on holiday in term time or takes leave of absence for other reasons without permission from the school?
The absences will be marked in the school register as unauthorised absences and details will be passed to Shropshire Council’s Education Access Service. This may result in a formal warning or a truancy penalty notice of £60 (rising to £120) per parent per child being issued. In some cases, parents may be prosecuted for the offence of failure to ensure regular attendance at school.
Parents/carers should never simply discount the amount of a penalty notice from the cost of a cheaper holiday, because this is a criminal offence and when doing so they're always risking prosecution.
Please support us in encouraging good attendance and using school holidays for family time.
