Absence due to illness
If your child is unwell and unable to attend school, please notify the school office by telephone, email or in person before the start of the school day, explaining the reason and expected day of return. If the absence continues beyond the expected day of return, please inform the office again. If a child is absent and we have not heard from parent/carers, we will endeavour to contact you to check their whereabouts.
If a child has been sick or has diarrhoea, he/she should not return to school until 48 hours clear after the last bout.
Medical Appointments
If your child has a medical appointment during school time, please notify the school office as above.
Leave of Absence
At Barton CE (VA) Primary School we reach for success and to realise potential. Children and parents play a vital part in this. We aim for an environment which enables and encourages all members of the community to reach out for excellence. The school aims to work together with parents to ensure that all children registered at the school attend both regularly and punctually. For our children to gain the greatest benefit from their education it is vital that they attend regularly. Attendance matters as an essential prerequisite to effective learning.
Holidays during school term time and Penalty Notices (taken from our Attendance and Lateness Policy):
Parents do not have the right to take their child out of school for a holiday.
There are only 190 statutory school days in one year and 175 days (weekends and school holiday) available to use for holidays. Therefore every school day counts.
Whilst parents/carers/guardians can provide explanations for absences, it is at the school’s discretion as to whether this absence will be authorised or unauthorised. The change in legislation has meant the removal of holiday entitlement and the Headteacher will now not authorise any holiday requests in term time, unless there are “exceptional circumstances‟. A family holiday taken in term time may result in a warning and Fixed Penalty Notice being issued. Further advice and guidance on this matter can be located through the Department of Education website entitled “Advice on School Attendance”
As of 18th April 2017 any parent who takes a child out of school for term time leave of more than 6 consecutive sessions over a 4 week period, not authorised by the school (under exceptional circumstances rule), may receive a Penalty Notice. Such cases will have to be supported by evidence of previous unauthorised term time leave (more than 6 consecutive sessions over a 4 week period) taken in the last 3 years and evidence of parents being warned about a potential Penalty Notice.
Absence will not be authorised during and preceding the week of the Statutory Assessment Tests in May.
Leave of absence should be discussed with the Headteacher with as much notice as possible and parents should not expect leave of absence to be granted automatically.
As a parent or carer you are strongly urged to avoid leave of absence from school during term time. Should this be absolutely unavoidable then you should complete the form below and return it to the office at least four weeks prior to the absence. If your request is refused, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised. This will appear both in the school register and in your child’s report.