For a child to reach their full educational achievement, a high level of school attendance is essential. Children with poor attendance are disadvantaged in many ways: not only will their academic performance be affected, their ability to form friendships, self-esteem and confidence can also suffer.

We will consistently work towards a goal of 100% attendance for all children. Of course, we understand that absence due to illness is sometimes unavoidable, but we expect all pupils to maintain an attendance rate of at least 97% (our average during a typical year). This means an average of less than 1 day off each month.

New HANDi App

A new app has been launched to provide advice and support to parents, carers and healthcare professionals looking after children with the most common childhood illnesses.

The HANDi app has been developed by paediatric consultants and will give you access to home care plans, as well as GP and hospital clinical guidelines, to help you provide the best support for your child and give you confidence in caring for them when they are unwell. The app describes care plans and guidance for the most common childhood health concerns, including:

• Abdominal pain
• Chestiness
• Diarrhoea and vomiting
• High Temperature
• Problems during the newborn period

Download the FREE App today
Download the HANDi App for Android phones at Google Play .

For iPhone or iPad you can download it from the app store using the search term 'HANDi app'.

What to do if your child is ill

Please telephone the school on our dedicated absence line 01332 690776 by 9.15am on the first morning of absence and each subsequent day.  

If your child has an appointment in the morning after which they will be returning to school e.g. doctors, dentist etc, please telephone before 9am so that your child can be entered on the dinner register.

Please try to make appointments, where ever possible, outside of the school day as it does cause disruption to the children’s day.

Please note that for sickness or diarrhoea the current guidelines laid down by the Health Protection Agency state that children should not return to school for 48 hours after the final episode (and should not swim for 2 weeks after the last episode). Please comply with these guidelines as sickness and diarrhoea spread very easily in the classroom environment.

Absence & Term Time Holidays

It is the responsibility of all parents to ensure that their children attend school.  All absence from school affects a child’s education.  Some absence is beyond parental control, for example sickness, medical appointments etc. Please note that from September 2013, Headteachers no longer have the discretionary power to authorise absence for holidays.

The Headteacher has a statutory responsibility to closely monitor school attendance.  Parents of children whose attendance has dropped below 90% at the end of each term will receive a letter from the Headteacher and persistent poor attendance will be referred to the Local Authority.  The government collects annual statistics on attendance from every school.

For further information please see the school's Attendance policy which is shared annually with all parents.