Information for
Families

It is essential that our pupils form good habits of regular attendance at school from an early age and that excellent attendance is maintained throughout their school career. When a child attends school on a regular basis, they take an important step towards reaching their full potential, and are given the greatest opportunity to learn new things and develop their skills.

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Arriving at school on time is also an essential routine that needs to be established. Children who are regularly late miss certain essential parts of the school day. Children who arrive after 8:45 a.m. will be marked as late. Anyone arriving after 9:00 a.m. will be marked absent for the morning session.

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As a school, we robustly monitor attendance and identify barriers that might prevent regular attendance for pupils. This will mean that over the year parents may receive communication from the school regarding their child’s attendance, including termly attendance summaries, generic email warnings when attendance drops below 95% or 90%, phone calls from staff to discuss attendance, and invitations to meetings to discuss barriers to attendance and support that can be put in place.​ ​All of these steps are meant with the best intentions and have the child’s best interests at heart.

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Here are some other ways we can work together:

• Leave of absence requests are not authorised during term time. Headteachers are only allowed to grant leave of absence from school in exceptional circumstances. The decision as to whether any request is considered as ‘exceptional circumstances’ rests solely with the Headteacher. The fundamental principles for defining ‘exceptional’ are rare, significant, unavoidable and short. ‘Unavoidable’ should be taken to mean an event that could not reasonably be scheduled at another time. Any request should be made prior to the leave of absence and should be submitted to the school using the Request for Leave of Absence Form. Parents / carers may be asked to provide additional information / evidence or meet with the school to discuss the circumstances. Parents / carers will be notified of the Headteacher’s decision at the earliest opportunity. If the circumstances are not considered to be exceptional, parents / carers will be informed of this and made aware that the Local Authority may be asked to issue a Fixed Penalty Notice. A Fixed Penalty Notice can be issued to each parent/carer liable for the offence regarding each of their children. Further information is available on the BCP Council attendance webpage.

• Children should only be kept at home if they are too unwell to attend, have been sick (48 hour rule), have an illness that is highly contagious or have a temperature. The NHS has produced guidance on whether time off is required for particular illnesses.

• If children are on antibiotics or medicines, they may still be able to be in school. Parents should speak to a member of the school office team.

• Parents should contact school before 8:45 a.m. on the morning of absence by using the office email (office@prioryceprimary.co.uk) or leaving a voicemail (01202 484105).