Attendance
At Hady Primary School we want to ensure that our pupils are able to take the fullest possible advantages of all that we have to offer. We want every pupil to attend school every day that they can.
Pupil absence should be reported by ringing or emailing the school office before 9.00am on every day of absence.
Our attendance policy sets out what is expected so that this may be achieved.
Parents/carers should:
Make sure their child attends school regularly and on time, appropriately dressed and equipped and in a fit state to learn.
Let the school know if they are having difficulty with attendance so that any available help or support can be offered.
Seek permission from school prior to any anticipated absence that is not medical.
Not take their child on holiday during term-time.
Not extend weekend breaks into the school week.
Notify school if they intend to remove their child permanently from the school for any reason.
School will:
Make suitable arrangements for the safe daily reception of children.
Be consistent in their attendance practices.
Keep and mark registers accurately.
Follow up any unexplained absences.
Notify parents/carers, at least once every term, of their child’s attendance level.
Notify the Local Authority (LA) of pupils who have poor attendance, leave school to be educated at home, go missing, or are excluded.
Notify the LA and/or the Department for Children, Families and Schools (DCFS) of absence figures for the school and, where necessary, individual pupils.
Attendance Policy (downloadable from policies page)
Leave of Absence
Our Attendance Policy gives details about applying for a leave of absence for your child if it becomes necessary through extraordinary circumstance to take your child out of school for any period of time. We must state the following:
In September 2013 the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 came into force. These regulations make it clear that Headteachers should not grant approval for any leave of absence during term time, including holidays, unless there are exceptional circumstances. These regulations also state that holidays cannot be authorised retrospectively. Any requests should be on an official school absence request form and handed into the school office for consideration prior to any holiday/leave arrangements being made. You may be issued with a Penalty Notice should leave be taken which is not authorized. If unpaid this could lead to prosecution under section 444(1) of The Education Act 1996.
Exceptional circumstances might include attending a wedding or a funeral or visiting with relatives who are on leave from the armed forces. Please note: following recent advice from the local authority, we will only authorise 3 days leave for a wedding taking place within the EU – one day for travel to the event, one day for the event, and one day for travel home from the event. We will also require evidence that your child will be attending the wedding, such as an invitation (which we will return to you as soon as your application has been processed). If you apply for leave for a family holiday that cannot be taken outside of term time due to work restrictions, you must provide us with evidence of these restrictions, such as a letter from your employer on company letterhead. We will only authorise 5 days for such an absence.
Please note, the fundamental principles for defining ‘exceptional’ are rare, significant, unavoidable and short. If you request leave of absence on multiple occasions throughout a school year for the same reasons, this would not be considered ‘rare’. The Headteacher will take a student’s previous record of attendance into account when making decisions.
Please ensure you apply for a leave of absence AT LEAST two weeks before the first date your child will not be in school in order to give enough time for processing.
Children who are not of compulsory school age cannot have their absences marked as unauthorised. However, please apply for a leave of absence all the same as this will help us to keep our records clear and ensure we know where your child is when not in school. Compulsory school age begins in the term AFTER a child has turned 5. A child turning 5 on 12th October 2020 will be of compulsory school age from 1st January 2021.
Click here to Apply for a leave of absence
In order to complete an application, parents must email office@hadyprimary.chorustrust.org to confirm they have completed the form, giving the date and time of submission so that the office is able to cross check this with its records.