Bowsland Green Primary School
Bowsland Green Primary School
Bowsland Green Primary School
Trees

Attendance

We believe that children are more likely to reach their full potential by receiving full-time education through regular and structured attendance. We expect all pupils to attend regularly and to arrive and leave school punctually. We emphasise this to all parent/carers.

All staff are concerned for the children’s welfare and happiness and everyone plays a part in promoting regular attendance among the pupils. Children should be at school unless they have sickness, diarrhoea or a high temperature. Please let the class teacher know if your child seems ‘under the weather’ and we will ring you if their condition worsens. However, children should not attend school for 48 hours after they have been sick or have had diarrhoea.

Good attendance and punctuality are important if children are to take part fully in school life, feel valued and take advantage of the learning opportunities offered. Regular and prompt attendance will help them to feel part of the whole school team and support them in growing their potential. In addition, we recognise that attending school regularly and punctually is vital to the educational process and encourages a good pattern of work.

Absences

If your child is going to be absent from school please let us know by telephone or letter (stating the reason) before 9am. If we do not hear from you we are obliged to contact you by telephone, which is expensive and time consuming. Any absence not notified will be treated as unauthorised and the school will be required to inform the Education Welfare Officer. If your child is going to absent from school please ring the school and leave a message on the pupil absent line.

Term Time Absence

  • The Government has made an amendment to the 2006 regulations on term time absence. Schools are now prohibited from authorising any leave in term time; unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Exceptional Leave

  • We aim to work in partnership with parents and we know that there are sometimes exceptional circumstances which mean absence may be required during term time
  • If you need to apply for exceptional leave you must write and ask for permission from the Headteacher of your child’s school. Your letter should include the dates your child will be absent from school and fully explain the exceptional circumstances. Requests for exceptional leave will only be considered 4 weeks before the date of the leave to enable the headteacher to consider the items below and no leave will be authorised retrospectively
  • Each request for holiday will be considered individually. In doing so the Headteacher will consider a number of reasons you highlight in your letter before granting exceptional leave of absence, including:
    • How much education your child has already missed through previous absence, illness or arriving late
    • What learning your child will miss at school
    • Your child’s level of achievement
  • Where the school and parents/carers fail to reach an agreement and the child is subsequently absent from school, the absence will be marked unauthorised
  • Where parents/carers keep a child away for longer than agreed then the extra time will be marked as unauthorised
  • In accordance with all schools in South Gloucestershire, parents/carers may receive a penalty notice if repeated unauthorised absence is taken. Penalty notices are currently £60 per child, per parent if paid within 21 days and £120 if paid between 21 and 28 days.
  • Where a teacher feels a child is being kept at home without good reason or where a child is late and the parent/carer fails to provide an acceptable explanation, this will be recorded and monitored by the headteacher and where a pattern emerges or concerns arise, parent/carers will be invited to an attendance meeting.  If further unauthorised leave is taken the school may make a referral to the South Gloucestershire Family Intervention Support Service.
  • Please make an appointment to speak to the Headteacher if you have any concerns.

 Late Arrivals/Early Collections

  • A child arriving late or leaving early may seriously disrupt not only his/her learning but that of other children
  • Late arrivals will be recorded and parents/carers may be asked to provide a reason for the lateness. A record of action taken will be recorded
  • Late arrivals/early departures will be monitored by the Deputy Headteacher. If a child arrives after 9.15am when registration closes or leaves before 12.15pm or 3.20pm then they and their parents/carers will report to the office, where it will be recorded, in case of an emergency. This will include the time of arrival/departure and the reason.
  • Any child still on the premises after 4.00 pm without prior arrangement or contact from parents/carers will be legally considered abandoned and school will contact Social Services or the local police station.