What should I do if my child is too unwell to attend school?

Please use the following information to make an informed decision about whether your child is too poorly to be in school. 

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school

• Parents must contact school on the first day of absence by 9am to let them know the reason for absence. 
• If school do not hear from you, we will call you and ask why your child isn’t in school. If there is no answer, we may carry out a visit to your home to see why your child is absent.
• If your child’s attendance is below 95% additional medical evidence may be requested if your child is absent due to illness. 
• School will request evidence of appointments. Without evidence, appointments may not be authorised. 

New Information about Penalty Notices

On the 19th August 2024, the Department for Education (DfE) implemented new procedures which schools must follow to manage irregular attendance. As such, Headteachers can only grant leave of absence in exceptional circumstances. Therefore it is very unlikely that absence requests for a holiday will be authorised meaning any absence for a holiday or other leisure activity would be marked as unauthorised in the register. Which can lead to a fine. 

The National Threshold and Penalty Notices

There is a new National Threshold for when penalty notices must be considered by all schools in England. 

 If a child has been absent for an unauthorised reason for 10 sessions (5 school days) during a rolling 10 week school period schools must consider a penalty notice. These sessions do not need to be consecutive. 

Punctuality

• Children can come in to school from 8:30am.
• Doors close and the register is taken at 8:45am.
• Pupils who arrive after 8:45am should be taken and signed in at the school office and they are marked L – late. 
• If pupils arrive after 9:15am they are marked as absent. This absence will be marked as unauthorised and therefore will begin accruing absence which could lead to a fine.