If your child is ill please do the following:

1. Call our dedicated absence line 01284 718810 for every day your child is ill.
2. Provide a written explanation when your child returns to school.

Read the attendance leaflet produced by Suffolk County Council PDF File

Due to the recent changes in legislation we have established a Governor Attendance Committee to review requests for holiday in school time and review late and unauthorised absences. This committee will make the decision to authorise or decline requests. They will meet on a two weekly basis to consider requests. Should you have a request we’d really appreciate it if you could please give us as much notice as possible.

Thank you to everyone who uses the absence line to let us know when your child is unwell or not coming to school. It is 01284 718810. As with all Suffolk Schools we are monitoring attendance with the Educational Welfare Officer [EWO] and we feel we should clearly explain the procedures for absences and possible outcomes.

There is a really good leaflet above. It explains that if you have more than 5 days (10 sessions) unauthorised absences you will receive a warning notification from the EWO. You then have 15 days to improve the attendance with 0 unauthorised absences allowed before a fine is issued.

When does my child need to be in School?
We open our doors at 8.50am. Your child should be at school in good time for registration. The morning register is called promptly at 9.00 a.m. and the afternoon register is taken at 1.10 p.m. Children may come into the school from 8.50 a.m. onwards. External doors and gates will be secured just after 9.00 a.m. If your child arrives after that time they must enter school by the main entrance.

What happens if my child is late?
• If your child arrives between 9.00 a.m. and 9.15 a.m. he/she will be marked late
• If your child arrives after 9.15 a.m. he/she will be marked as absent (unauthorised) unless an acceptable reason is given.
• Pupils who arrive after registration should report to the school office, and parents should sign the late file. If a pupil is consistently late a meeting will be arranged to discuss reasons/ difficulties for lateness.

Does the School need letters explaining my child’s absence or will a phone call do?
We would expect a parent to telephone the school on 01284 718810 on the first day of absence. If you do not contact us, we will try to telephone you. A message can be left using our Absence Line 01284 718810. However, we need a written explanation on your child’s return to school. If we do not receive an explanation, or if the explanation is unsatisfactory, we will not authorise the absence, and this will be shown on your child’s end of year report. The teachers, Leadership Team and the Education Welfare Officer monitors absence.

Transcript of the Letter from the Director of Children & Young People's Services

You will be aware of the government’s concern, which we all share, to raise levels of pupil attendance at school. Research has demonstrated a high correlation between attendance and attainment, and that schools where absence is high tend to have a lower level of attainment than might otherwise be expected. Crucially, good school attendance is regarded as essential in meeting the outcomes of Every Child Matters.
I know schools have been working very hard to reduce absence, but nevertheless it remains too high across all phases and does not compare well with that of our statistical neighbours. Despite everyone’s hard work, absence has actually increased this year, and while sickness is likely to have been a major contributory factor in some schools, it may not have been the only one. We need to focus on other issues, especially those within our control, which contribute to significant levels of absence. Many of you report that one of these is holidays taken in term-time.

Schools, as you know, have the discretion to grant up to ten days absence in a school year for a family holiday. Parents do not have the right to take their children out of school for this purpose. Guidance already issued by Suffolk Local Authority, and by the DfES, stresses that headteachers should use their discretion to grant leave for a holiday very sparingly.

Term-time holidays were originally intended for children whose parents were unable to take a holiday at any other time, for example some agricultural workers and those whose place of work had an annual ‘shut down’ outside the school holiday period. Certain members of the uniformed or armed services, if they are subject to a strict and un-negotiable holiday rota, might also be affected. It was never intended that parents should be allowed to take their children out of school in term-time simply because holidays are cheaper, because the time is more convenient for them or for second holidays. Suffolk Local Authority’s view is that leave should not be granted in these circumstances.

Every application for a holiday in term-time therefore needs to be considered on its merits. Whilst it is not advisable to impose a ‘blanket’ ban on term-time holidays (schools could find themselves open to legal challenge on the grounds that they have fettered their discretion), I would expect schools to be very clear with parents that, while they will consider every application individually, their general policy is not to grant leave of absence for a holiday other than in the most exceptional circumstances such as those described above. Even then, when considering whether or not to grant leave, the Local Authority would expect schools to take into consideration the time of year and the overall attendance pattern of the child. The Authority would not support leave of absence which coincided with SATs or GCSE examinations, or for a child whose attendance was not otherwise good.

Whilst it might generally be considered that a holiday is good family time, a child’s right to a full-time education must take priority. It is now well recognised that children with high attendance perform better in SATs and achieve higher grades at GCSE. Some schools are setting a level of attendance below which they will not authorise absence for a holiday. Whilst this might be considered a helpful step, it should be noted that a pupil who takes 10 days holiday a year during term time will achieve only 94.7% attendance if there are no other absences. Furthermore, a pupil who otherwise has an attendance level of 95% will have this reduced to only 89.7% by taking 10 days holiday in term time, and a pupil who generally attends 92% of the time will have this reduced to 86.8%. Neither of these attendance levels is acceptable and will reduce the likelihood of those children reaching their potential in SATs and GCSE examinations. This will also, of course, be reflected in schools’ performance on attainment.

I am aware that some school clusters are developing a whole-cluster policy on term time holidays so that parents are clear what is expected from the time their children first attend school, right through to school leaving age. This approach is likely to be helpful in changing attitudes to term time holidays by raising parents’ awareness and understanding about the potential detrimental effect to their children of missing school, and therefore in contributing to raising levels of school attendance.

This is a matter which the Local Authority takes very seriously in serving the best interests of children. It is worth bearing in mind that a child who misses two weeks of school a year during his or her compulsory schooling, loses roughly two terms of education. I do hope you will do all you can to reduce unnecessary absence of this kind.