Attendance

Every child should attend every day that they are required to attend. Your child should be at school by 8.45am but not before 8.30am, unless they are attending Breakfast Club, to be ready to go into class at 8.45am. The register is taken twice a day. Morning registration is at 8.50am. It is the parent/carers responsibility to ensure they are aware of term dates.

Any pupils that arrive after 8.45am enter the school through the main entrance. When a child arrives late the parents/carers should sign them in and be prepared to select their lunch option preference.

If a child arrives after the gates are locked, they will receive an ‘L’ code up until 9.05am. If a child arrives after 9.05am they will receive a ‘U’ code. This is considered an unauthorised absence.

A series of unauthorised late marks will lead to contact from the Inclusion Leader. The school may consider referring to Gloucestershire Council for legal action if unauthorised absences continue and parents/carers fail to engage with guidance and support.

The School expects prompt collection of all children at the end of the school day (3.15pm Infants and 3.20pm Juniors). However, we do appreciate that unforeseen circumstances (eg traffic, illness) may occur from time to time. We would ask parents/carers to advise school as soon as possible if this happens, by phoning 01452 527 689. The school closely monitors late collections.

If you have been 10 minutes late collecting your child on more than one occasion and have not let the school office know that you are running late, you will be required to collect your child/ren from the Holiday Club where a charge may be incurred.

However, if lateness becomes a regular occurrence, whether you have rung the office or not, you will be required to collect your child/ren from the Holiday Club where a charge may be incurred.

We expect parents/carers to notify the school every morning of absence by 9.05am, unless the length of absence is known in advance. We will contact you if your child has not arrived in school by 9.05am and no message has been left.

If we do not receive an explanation, or if the explanation is unsatisfactory, we will not authorise the absence. You may leave a telephone message 01452 527689 or e-mail to attendance@caltonprimary.co.uk.

If we are concerned about aspects of your child’s attendance or punctuality, we will contact you to discuss the best way forward.

Yes, all adults, parents and carers have a legal responsibility including absent parents. DEFINITION OF A PARENT Section 576 of the Education Act 1996 defines ‘parent’ as

• All natural parents, whether they are married or not
• Any person who, although not a natural parent, has parental responsibility for a child or young person
• Any person who, although not a natural parent, has care of a child or young person (having care of a child or young person means that a person with whom the child lives and who looks after the child, irrespective of what their relationship is with the child, is considered to be a parent in education law). An accumulation of unauthorised absences will lead to a referral to Gloucestershire County Council which may result in legal proceedings.

• Illness. However, persistent illness without medical evidence will not be authorised: Parents/carers will be expected to provide evidence, so school are able to consider if the absence is to be authorised or unauthorised. Medical evidence can be provided by proof of GP appointment, proof of prescribed medication or a letter from the GP stating that they were required to be absent from school.
• Emergency dental/medical appointment. (Please make routine appointments after school or during the holidays), appointment cards/texts will be required.
• Family holidays in exceptional circumstances and only if authorised in advance by the Head teacher in line with the school Attendance Policy. Please note most family holidays are unauthorised.

Except in the case of illness, you should ask for permission for your child to miss school well in advance, giving full details. This is to be done using the Absence Request Form available on the school’s website (and further down this page). In cases of recurring absences through illness you may be asked to produce medical evidence as stated previously.

The school will not authorise absences other than those in exceptional circumstances. 

Family holidays, day trips, shopping or birthdays are not classed as exceptional.

Family holidays should only be taken during school holidays. Only in exceptional circumstances will permission be given during term time. In such circumstance’s requests  should be made in writing to the Head Teacher 6 weeks in advance (where possible). 

The Head Teacher has the right to refuse permission. Where a holiday in term time is granted, the Head Teacher will determine the number of days a pupil can be away  from school. Any absences incurred prior to and following the request dates will be coded as unauthorised unless supported by evidence. If an unauthorised holiday is taken during term time a request will be made to Gloucestershire County Council who will consider the facts. A Penalty Notice may be issued without further warning. A Penalty Notice is issued to each parent/carer for each child taken out of school and this is a fine of £80 if paid within the first 21 days (e.g. for a family of two parents with two children the fine would 2x £80 for each parent, totaling £160) which increases if paid between 21 and 28 days. If this is not paid it may result in legal action.

Please see the recent update to Attendance from Jane Barker-Doe.

Make sure your child gets enough sleep and gets up in plenty of time each morning. 

Ensure that he / she leaves home in the correct clothes and properly equipped. Show  your child, by your interest, that you value his / her education. 

Contact your child’s teacher or a member of the Inclusion Team for support immediately and openly discuss your worries. Your child could be avoiding school for a number of reasons – difficulties with schoolwork, bullying, friendship problems, family difficulties. It is important that we identify the reason for your child’s reluctance to attend school and work together to tackle the problem.

It is important to communicate with school should you wish to transfer your child to a  different school. When pupils leave the school and no information has been received by  the school regarding their new placement and parents/carers are unable to be  contacted, the school has a duty of care regarding safeguarding and must contact the Local Authority. The child will be a Child Absent from Education. This means that Gloucestershire County Council has a legal duty to investigate, which will include liaising with Social Services, the Police and other agencies, to try to track and locate the child. By giving the school details of the child’s new school and location, unnecessary investigations can be avoided.

It is paramount that parent/carers keep school updated with all new contact details of  change of address and landline or mobile telephone numbers. If you start a new job  and have a work contact number, please let us know immediately. This is to ensure we  can contact you in an emergency. It is expected that we have at least 2 different  contacts for your child.

Children cannot work under the age of 13 unless they hold a performance licence. 

During term time children can only work a maximum of 12 hours a week. This includes:

• a maximum of 2 hours on school days and Sundays
• a maximum of 5 hours on Saturdays for 13 to 14-year-olds, or 8 hours for 15 to 16-year-olds

Businesses intending to employ children are required to apply for a child employment permit. The Local Authority may turn down a request for a permit if a child has a poor attendance record at school. Further details can be found at https://www.gov.uk/childemployment/minimum-ages-children-can-work.

Calton Primary and Playgroup Attendance Pupil Policy

GCC Attendance Guidance for parents and carers

For further information please ask to speak to Mrs Short, our Attendance Officer, or Mr Holton, our Inclusion Leader.

The headteacher will only grant a leave of absence to a pupil during term time if they consider there to be ‘exceptional circumstances’. A leave of absence is granted at the headteacher’s discretion, including the length of time the pupil is authorised to be absent for.

We define ‘exceptional circumstances’ as;

• Children whose parents/carers are in the armed forces and need to spend together as a family following a parent returning from duty.
• Children, whose parents/carers are dictated by their employer as to when they can take holiday’s e.g police, fire service or working for a company that closes between certain dates. (These requests will however need to be accompanied by a letter from the employer as to why the family can only take a holiday during said dates term time)
• A child with a parent/carer or sibling who has a life-threatening illness. (This request will need to be accompanied by a letter from a medical professional working with the family, or the request will not be seen as exceptional. The request will not be deemed as exceptional if it is the illness of other extended family members)

The school considers each application for term-time absence individually, taking into account the specific facts, circumstances and relevant context behind the request.

Any request should be submitted as soon as it is anticipated and, where possible, at least 3 weeks before the absence, and in accordance with any leave of absence request form, accessible via the school website. The headteacher may require evidence to support any request for leave of absence.

Valid reasons for authorised absence include:

Illness and medical/dental appointments.

Religious observance – where the day is exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the pupil’s parents belong.  If necessary, the school will seek advice from the parents’ religious body to confirm whether the day is set apart.

Traveller pupils travelling for occupational purposes – this covers Roma, English and Welsh gypsies, Irish and Scottish travellers, showmen (fairground people) and circus people, bargees (occupational boat dwellers) and new travellers. Absence may be authorised only when a traveller family is known to be travelling for occupational purposes and has agreed this with the school, but it is not known whether the pupil is attending educational provision.

Absence Request (office.com)