Lates / Absences

Lates

Any student arriving in school after registration has been taken will be recorded as ‘L’ (late).  At The Pines, registration begins at 8.55 and registers are closed at 9. Any child who arrives after 9.30 will be categorised as U (unauthorised absence). Unauthorised absence at the beginning of the day is particularly damaging to a child’s academic and social progress and for this reason will be treated very seriously by the school and the Education Welfare Officer (EWO).

Absences

Parents should contact the School Office as soon as possible on the first day of an illness . If the school does not hear from parents by 9.15am they will ring all three contacts and if this is unsuccessful, a welfare check will be carried out. Children with any sickness or diarrhoea should be clear for at least 48 hours before returning to school (please see our ‘Medicines in School‘ policy for more information).

You can now complete an online form to inform us of your child’s absence. 

If you are unsure whether to keep your child off school, here are the NHS guidelines.

Holidays during term times

Taking holidays during the school term is not an entitlement and is not authorised by the school.  Permission for leave of absence other than illness must be sought from the Head Teacher and is granted only in exceptional circumstances, in accordance with the school’s Attendance Policy. The school will not provide work for pupils taken out of school for unauthorised absence.

The school strongly discourages holidays being taken in term time as learning is disrupted and the lost time is detrimental to the educational progress of the child. The Pines Primary School follows the new DfE guidelines from September 2013 that stated that requests for long-term leave can only be granted in ‘exceptional circumstances’ and decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.

No term time leave will be granted, or deemed granted without a formal request on the appropriate form (available from school office) is received and a written response given. The school will not authorise any holidays retrospectively and may follow up any reported illness that we feel may have been a term time holiday

Any parent who takes a child out of school for term time leave of more than 10 sessions over a 10 week period, not authorised by the school (under exceptional circumstances rule), may receive a Penalty Notice.

Please see the attendance policy for further details.