Attendance

For our children to gain the greatest benefit from their education it is vital that they attend regularly and be at school, on time, every day the school is open unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable.

It is a rule of this school that pupils must attend every day, unless there are exceptional circumstances and it is the Headteacher, not the parent, who can authorise the absence.

Our attendance expectation for 2025/26 is for each student to achieve 100% attendance with the aim of achieving above 97.5% during the academic year.

Absence Reporting

When reporting your child’s absence, please give a detailed reason for their absence, which will be recorded on the school system. We ask that you ring the school number before 9.00am and no later than 9.20am when the registers close.

Our expectation, if your child is absent for more than one day, is to update the school daily.

Minor ailments, such as a headache or slight cold, are not acceptable reasons for failing to attend school.

Please keep medical evidence of absence where possible e.g. appointments cards, copies of prescriptions, pharmacy receipts and include them in a letter to the class teacher explaining your child’s absence on their return to school.

With regards to medical appointments, we expect these to be made outside of school hours unless they are for an emergency.

To promote good practice, parents are requested to give as much notification in writing of forthcoming medical appointments, two days would be a recommended timescale, providing us with evidence of the appointment booking.

Lateness

If your child will be late to school you must inform the school office to explain the circumstances.  We will need to know what time your child will be in school that day, so that adaptations to their learning can be made and amendments to lunch orders if required.

Term Time Absence Requests

It is a rule of this school that a leave of absence shall not be granted in term time unless there are reasons considered to be exceptional by the Headteacher, irrespective of the child’s overall attendance. Parents must complete an ‘Application for Leave of Absence’ form, for each child that they are applying for, which can be found on our website. The form must be accompanied by a letter stating the exceptional circumstance for which the leave of absence is being requested.

All requests must be submitted either electronically or via the school office with sufficient notice to enable a response to be provided, therefore no less than 2 weeks prior to the absence where possible.

Where a parent removes a child when the application for leave was refused or where no application was made to the school, the issue of a penalty notice may be requested by this school.

Essex County Council may issue a penalty notice to each parent of £80*, for each child, to be paid within 21 days. If the penalty is not paid within the time scale the penalty will increase to £160*. If the higher penalty is not paid within 28 days, the Local Authority will then institute legal proceedings against each parent in the magistrate’s court under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996 for failing to ensure their child attends school regularly.

Where families choose to go on holiday during term time and the absences are coded as unauthorised, Essex County Council may not issue penalty notices and may instead proceed to prosecution and place the case directly before the Magistrates for their consideration in court. If found guilty by the Magistrates, parents could face a fine of up to £2,500 and/or 3 months imprisonment.

For your information, the school office will be in regular contact with the Local Authority and the School Attendance Officer for Billericay Schools, to discuss those students whose attendance is a cause of concern.

Further information can be found in our Attendance policy below. A paper copy is available upon request from the school office free of charge.