School Attendance

School attendance

The school has a duty to monitor all pupils’ attendance in partnership with the Local Authority.

Education lays the vital foundations of a child’s life and regular, punctual attendance at school is key to both your child’s academic and social development. School and the Local Authority closely monitor every child’s attendance and punctuality.

Following the guidelines from the NHS, children are allowed to attend school with:

Coughs, colds, and sore throat.

Conjunctivitis.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease.

Headlice – Treat their hair and send them into school.

Ringworm – Can come into school once treatment has started.

Slapped cheek

Threadworm.

Other illnesses – Please follow these guidelines.

Chicken pox – Please stay at home until all spots have crusted. This is usually 5 days after the spots first appear.

Impetigo – Children can return to school 48 hours if treatment from the Dr has started.

Scarlett fever – Children can return to school 24 hours after starting antibiotic treatment.

Sickness and diarrhoea – One off case and your child is well, they can return after 24 hours.

If they have repetitive episodes, they can return after 48 hours.

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR CHILD IS ILL

1. Please email admin@stowheathprimaryschool.co.uk to inform us of your child’s absence on the first day of your child’s illness.

2. If your child is absent for 3 days or more, this will warrant a safe and well check. This will be carried out by our education welfare team.

3. If your child’s attendance becomes a concern, you will be asked to provide medical evidence i.e., Doctors note, hospital letters, copies of prescriptions etc. Parents can also bring in medicine bottles and the office staff will copy the label as proof. Medicines can only be given in school if prescribed by a doctor. It must be handed into and collected from the school office, and you must fill in a ‘permission to administer medicine form’.

4. Any child who is ill for a week will be asked to provide medical evidence.

PUNCTUALITY

We have noticed an increase in the number of children arriving at school late each day.

We understand that there may be rare occasions when you are unavoidably late due to unforeseen circumstances however being repeatedly late can have the following disadvantages.

· Missing the start of the day with their classmates.

· Missing the beginning of lessons such as maths or reading which are the first lessons of the day.

· Your child feeling awkward arriving at their classroom when everyone else is settled.

· When one pupil arrives late, it can disrupt the entire class and the teacher – everyone’s education is affected.

All children should enter the school via the playground, gates open at 8.35am and close at –8.45am.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE IN TERM TIME

Legislation introduced in September 2013 states that Head teachers can no longer authorise leave of absence during termtime. If you are thinking of taking your child out of school during term time you must complete a leave of absence form which can be obtained from the school office at least 4 weeks before the start of the holiday. It is very important that we know where your child is if they are absent from school. We have a duty of care to all pupils and must report to the local authority if your child is missing from school.

Please be mindful that your child may be removed from roll if you take excessive leave of absence without the authorisation from the Head teacher.

Thank you to those families who have worked hard to ensure that their children are punctual, and their attendance is high. Thank you for getting these important habits established early in your child’s life as it will make a difference in their futures.