Attendance! 
School matters

If your child is absent from school please inform the school office on

0161 834 2104

There are a number of reasons your child’s absence may be authorised:

Illness
Parents/carers may be asked to provide medical evidence where there are repeated absences due to the reported illness. This will usually be in the form of an appointment card, prescription, or doctor’s note etc.

Medical Appointments
Parents/carers are advised where possible to make medical and dental appointments outside of the school day. If this is not possible, pupils should attend school before the appointment or after they have attended their appointment. Parents/carers should show the appointment card to school.

Other Authorised Circumstances
This relates to occasions where there is cause for unavoidable absence due to exceptional circumstances, for example bereavement of a close family member (no more than 2 days), visiting a parent/carer in prison or part time timetable agreed as part of a reintegration package. The school makes the decision as to whether the circumstances are exceptional, not the parent/carer.

Excluded (no alternative provision made)
Exclusion from attending school is counted as an authorised absence. The pupil’s class teacher will make arrangements for work to be sent home.

Religious Observance
We acknowledge and celebrate the multi-faith nature of our school and recognise that on some occasions religious festivals may fall during term time. Governors have the discretion to grant up to a maximum of 3 days absence per school year for religious observance. Governors make the decision on an annual basis about how many days’ absence to grant. Parents/carers are requested to complete an Absence of Leave Form and hand to the headteacher if their child is to be absent from school for religious observance before the religious event.

There are a number of reasons your child’s absence will not be authorised:

Examples of unsatisfactory reasons for absences

A pupil’s/family member’s birthday

Shopping for uniforms or having a hair cut

Closure of a sibling’s school for INSET (or other) purposes

“Couldn’t get up”

Illness where the child is considered well enough to attend school

Thought school term did not start until the following day

Leave of absence in term time

An amendment was made to The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 which came into force 1 September 2013.

Parents/carers do not have any right to remove their child from school during term time for any reason.

Therefore, any leave of absence requests during term time WILL NOT BE AUTHORISED.

Persistent Absence
If your child’s attendance drops to 90% or less it is logged as persistent absence.

For more information please see the Attendance and Punctuality policy on the policies page of this website.