Good attendance is essential for delivering our vision of a positive and joyful community where children achieve their very best.
Please read our attendance principles in the PDF at the bottom of the page.
Useful Information
- Is my child too ill for school?
- How long should I keep my child off school?
- Gov.uk: Working together to improve school performance
Absence and Lateness Procedures
If your child is going to be absent/late:
- Telephone: 01395 266997 (before 08.45 wherever possible)
- Choose option 1 and state full reason, e.g. temperature, sickness, severe cold.
- Alternatively, send an Arbor message before 08.45 with the reason for the absence
- Avoid vague reasons such as ‘ill’ or ‘under the weather’.
We have a 48-hour rule for any sickness/diarrhoea to try to prevent any outbreaks. Please ensure that if your child has suffered with either of these, they remain absent from school for a clear 48-hour period from the last attack.
If a child is absent without explanation – first day contact process
- All registers will be checked by 09.30
- All of the missing child’s contacts will be telephoned until we have a response
- A text will also be sent
- A welfare check of the house may be conducted
- The police or multi-agency safeguarding hub may be called
Lateness
The class register opens at 08.50 am and closes at 9.20am. If your child arrives after the register has started at 08.50 am but before it has closed at 9.20am they will be coded as late (L). If they arrive after 9.20am they will be coded as arriving unacceptably late - after the register has closed (U) which is an unauthorised absence.
Absence requests
Before choosing to keep your child off school, please read the Attendance document at the bottom of this page.
If your child needs to be away from school, for any reason, please complete an absence request form (S2) or bring in a copy of the medical appointment letter/card. Wherever possible, please ensure you give the school at least 2 weeks' notice. Holiday requests will not be authorised and may be reported to Devon County Council (in accordance with Government guidelines), which may result in a penalty notice.
I am sure you will appreciate that good attendance in school correlates to the educational achievements of children. Official research by the DfE shows, in general, the higher the percentage of sessions missed across the Key Stage, the lower the likely level of attainment at the end of Key Stage 2. In particular, pupils with no absence are 1.6 times more likely to achieve Age Related Expectations or above, and 4.7 times more likely to achieve above Age Related Expectations than pupils that missed 15-20% of all sessions.
Further information can also be found by viewing our Pupil Attendance Policy on the First Federation Trust website.