Corpus Christi Primary School

LATENESS

Children who are late should come to the main school reception where they will need to be signed in by the adult bringing them to school. 

ILLNESS

If your child is ill, please telephone or email the school on the first day of absence and each day following, leaving a message on the answerphone to say why their child is absent. This should be followed up by a note to the teacher on return. These absences will be recorded as Authorised. Once the registers have closed, office staff will look at the absences and if we do not have a reason we will contact the parent.

APPOINTMENTS

A request for a child to leave school to attend an appointment will be granted. Where possible appointments should always be made outside of school hours. Children who need to leave the school during the school day for an appointment must be collected from the main entrance by a responsible adult. Evidence of the appointment should be presented to the office staff. 

Absence and Holidays During Term Time

• Parents are advised that it is against the law to take family holidays in term time.  Penalty Notice Fines are issued where family holidays are taken in school time.
• The Headteacher can, in exceptional circumstances, authorise absence from school but this does not apply to family holidays taken in term time or family weddings abroad.
• Parents/carers are also asked to arrange medical/dental appointments outside school hours wherever possible.
• Holidays requested at the beginning of any new term or during SATs periods can not be authorised for any reason. This follows the Local Authority Policy on attendance in school. Where unauthorised absence is taken, a fixed penalty notice of £60 can be issued (Section 444(a) of the Education Act 1996 empowers the local authority to issue Penalty Notices to parents/carers)

Attendance and Punctuality Awards

We have individual and class rewards and prizes to encourage good attendance and punctuality. We also post Attendance Awards on the weekly newsletter. The classes battle it out against each other to achieve the best attendance and punctuality records over the recent period. 

Attendance Records Monitoring

The school will monitor the attendance of any child where there is a concern. Whilst the  Headteacher and the School Attendance Officer, Sue Jacobs, wish to work closely with families to support good attendance, the Headteacher has a duty to each child to ensure that they attend regularly to access education. Remember parents, we wish to work with you to provide the best possible education for your child and regular attendance is a key feature of any child’s continued progress.

The School Attendance Officer visits the school regularly to check on attendance and punctuality and makes home visits if necessary. This Service also issues fixed penalty fines for intermittent or prolonged non-attendance without good reason, or for persistent lateness.