Punctuality and Lateness
Lateness can affect a child's education and therefore pupils are expected to arrive at school at the correct time. School starts at 8.45am for Reception and KS1 pupils; and 8.50am for KS2 pupils. Registers closes five minutes after the allotted start time. Children arriving at school after the allotted time will be classed as late. Pupils who arrive after 9.00am must report to the school office. Persistent lateness will be dealt with in a similar way to persistent absence.
Lateness will be defined as any child who arrives in school after their allocated start time but before five minutes is up. A child arriving 30 minutes after the register is closed will be classed as unauthorised unless they are late due to later starting time of a sibling or because of a medical appointment. The start times for classes are listed below:
Year Group | Start time | Finish time |
Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 | 8.45 am | 3.15 pm |
Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 | 8.50 am | 3.20 pm |
Absence from school
If a child is absent from school for any reason it is a legal requirement that parents inform the school in writing, or by telephone message. A telephone message, should be followed up by a letter in writing explaining the absence. Please note: an absence from school without an adequate explanation is classed as an unauthorised absence.
The school should be informed of any medical appointments that result in a child's absence.
The school operates an electronic registering system and attendance is monitored regularly. Action will be taken against parents whose child’s attendance is below 95%. The school will seek advice from the school's Education Welfare Officer. (EWO)
Legally, the school cannot grant holiday requests in school time except in exceptional circumstances. The school strongly advises that holidays at these times are not taken as they can seriously disrupt a child's education. Holidays taken in term time will be treated as an unauthorised absence (truancy) and parents could be issued with fixed penalty fine by the local authority.
Early Response
The school administrative staff will make telephone contact with parent(s) of every child who is not accounted for after 10.00am or have not notified the school that their child is absent.
The school's latest Attendance and Punctuality policy can be downloaded by clicking the link below.