Pupil Absence

Please let us know if your child is going to be absent from school for any reason. We ask parents to ring before 10 a.m. as we run a system of ‘First Day Response’. If we have not heard from you as to why your child is absent you will be contacted on that day through our texting service.

We ask parents where possible to arrange medical appointments outside of the school day. If this is not possible then we would not expect children to be absent for more than half a day. Children who need to attend appointments during the school day need to be collected from the School Office so they can be signed out.

If a child’s attendance drops below 90% we ask for parents to provide evidence to support the reason for absence – for example a medical prescription, appointment documentation or hospital letter etc. Non-attendance, without evidence may be recorded on our school register as unauthorised without this.

Parental Request for Absence

Holiday dates are issued well in advance and children should not be taken out of school. There will be no authorised holiday during term time and any parents taking a holiday / leave of absence in term time risk a fixed penalty notice of a minimum of £60 per parent per child.

Prosecutions for non-school attendance – Reading Chronicle article

Whilst the vast majority of children attend school regularly and engage with school and education welfare, there are some cases in the local area that have, unfortunately, resulted in statutory legal action.  Since September 2021 the courts have returned and any outstanding matters relating to school absence are being heard.  The DfE has been very clear that school attendance is imperative, even more so post pandemic and it appears that this message is being reinforced through the courts, more especially in cases where parents do not readily engage with the court processes.

Please see the recent article in the Reading Chronicle pertaining to these prosecutions where parents were found to be guilty and subsequently fined.  These amounts do not include additional court costs etc. 

The Education Welfare Service continue to offer support to schools, children and their families to address any issues impacting on attendance and would encourage parents to contact the school and/or the Education Welfare Officers if they have any concerns relating to school attendance. Education Welfare Officers can be contacted on 0118 9376545 or by email on EWO@brighterfuturesforchildren.org .