What to do if your child is too ill to attend school.

The pupil’s parent/carer must call the office and notify the school of the reason for the absence on the first day of an unplanned absence by 9.15am or as soon as practically possible. If you are leaving a message on the answer phone please give details of the absence. 'Under the weather' or 'not feeling well' are too vague. Parents/carers can also call into the office in the morning. 

Parents/carers are required to call the office each day until their child returns to school unless the illness requires a set time off school. eg Chicken Pox, Norovirus. 

We will mark absence due to illness as authorised unless the school has a genuine concern about the authenticity of the illness.

If the authenticity of the illness is in doubt, the school may ask the pupil’s parent/carer to provide medical evidence, such as a doctor’s note, prescription, appointment card or other appropriate form of evidence. We will not ask for medical evidence unnecessarily.

If the school is not satisfied about the authenticity of the illness, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and parents/carers will be notified of this in advance.

Planned Absences

To apply for a term time absence, you must apply in writing using the ‘request for absence form’. Please add as much detail as you can to your application and explain why ‘Exceptional Circumstances’ apply.

Holidays and special leave will not be authorised if there are no exceptional circumstances.

Attending a medical or dental appointment will be counted as authorised as long as the pupil’s parent/carer notifies the school in advance of the appointment and shows an appointment card to the office.

We encourage parents/carers to make medical and dental appointments out of school hours where possible. Where this is not possible, the pupil should be out of school for the minimum amount of time necessary.

The pupil’s parent/carer must apply for term-time absence as far in advance as possible of the requested absence.

Please refer to the Attendance Policy for more details.