Attendance and Absence

Important Information for Parents and Carers

Here at The Mayflower Primary School, we expect our parents to uphold their legal responsibility in ensuring that their child/ren attend school and receive an appropriate full-time education.

Poor attendance can affect children in many ways, including slowing their academic progress and their reading and writing ability, as well as affecting their ability to make and keep routines and friendships.

“A day off here and there” can make a critical difference to your childs’ academic attainment. For example:

90% Attendance = 1 Day off every 2 weeks per Academic Year

80% Attendance = 1 Day off per week / 1 month of per School Year

Genuine illness and absences of an exceptional circumstance can be unavoidable, but it is the parent/guardian’s responsibility to alert the school with in a timely manner and provide evidence and/or reasoning where necessary.

Term-Time Holidays

Parents should not take their children out of school during term-time. Infact, there is no legal right for a parent to do so (Pupil Registration Regulations 2006).

Only in the most exceptional of circumstances will term-time holiday absences be authorised.

Unauthorised absences will be brought to the attention of the Attendance Compliance Team and may lead to the imposition of a Penalty Notice for £120 (or £60 if paid within 28 days) to each of the parents for each child taken out of school.

If you know your child/ren will be absent from school for a period of time, please collect, complete and return an Absence Request Form from the School Office.

It is at the discretion of the Head Teacher as to what is considered an exceptional absence, not the parent.

Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from school for a good reason like illness (although you may be asked to provide medical evidence for your child before this can be authorised), medical or dental appointments which unavoidably fall in school time, emergencies, for a religious observance by the religious body to which the pupil’s parents/carers belong or other unavoidable cause

If Your Child Is Unwell

In the event that your child is too unwell to attend school (please see “Guidance on Infection control in schools and other childcare settings” below), you must follow the Absence Procedure:

1. Call the School Office on 01255 502444 by 8:30am to report your child’s illness with a brief summary of their symptoms.

OR

1. Report your child’s absence via the Attendance/Absence form below.

Please note: If you child has suffered with Sickness or Diarrhea, they must stay out of school for 48 hours from the last event of illness. For example, if your child was sick on Monday evening, they would be expected to return to school on Thursday.

You may be asked to provide medical evidence of this illness before we can authorise the absence.

Please see the following NHS link for further guidance: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

Lateness and Punctuality

If your child arrives late to school (10 minutes after their school day starts), they will receive a Late mark on the register. In the event of lateness, the parent should accompany the child to the school office to be signed in with an explanation for the lateness.

Persistent lateness or lack of punctuality could result in a referral being made to the Attendance Compliance Team at Essex County Council, who may issue a Penalty fine.