St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

St Joseph's Catholic
Primary School

Attendance

Please see link below for Covid-19 information:

Covid-19 Attendance Information September 2020

Attending School on a regular basis is essential for your child to do well at school and it teaches them good routines for later life and the working world, as well as giving your child the opportunity to:

  • Make lots of friends and feel included
  • Learn new things and develop many skills
  • Increase confidence and self-esteem
  • Improve social skills
  • Achieve potential and fulfil aspirations

When your child is absent:

Authorised Absences
Only the Head teacher can officially authorise an absence.
If you would like to put in a request for a planned absence, please complete a form (available from the school office) providing reasons for the absence.

  • Genuine illness of the pupil
  • Hospital/dental appointment for the pupil
  • Death of a near relative
  • Religious observance

Unauthorised Absences

  • A shopping trip
  • A birthday treat
  • Oversleeping due to a late night
  • Looking after other children
  • Letting the gas man in, etc.
  • Holiday

 

Whenever a child is absent from school the parent should:
Contact the school as soon as possible on the first day of absence. If no notification of absence is received, the school office will contact the parents to ascertain the reason.
Where possible, please let the school know in advance of any planned absences e.g. hospital appointments;
Where possible, please make medical/dental appointments out of school hours.

Term Time Holiday
Family holidays should take place during the school holiday dates. These are published a year in advance. Please be mindful that absence due to a holiday is not, and never has been, a parent’s entitlement.

Arriving late to school
When a child arrives late to school it can be very disruptive to your child, the teacher and other children in the class. If your child arrives late to school they will be marked as late on the register. If your child arrives very late, the child will be marked as an “Unauthorised Late” – This is the same as an Unauthorised Absence.

Absence and the Law
As a parent, you are committing an offence if you fail to make sure that your child attends regularly, even if they are missing school without your knowledge. The details of parents with children who have unauthorised absence (including those who have taken an unauthorised holiday) will be passed to the school’s Education Attendance Officer, who could consider issuing a Penalty Notice or starting legal action.

To report absences:

  • Ring the school office or leave a message on the answer-phone number before 9.30am (01173772160)

By law, schools must record absences and the reasons given.