All calculations are based on the school hours:

Morning session	8:45am -	1:00pm
Afternoon session	1:55pm -	3:20pm

 

Absence

We consider regular attendance to be absolutely vital for your child’s education, and it is important that the school is informed as soon as possible when a child is to be absent from school, for any reason, or if there are any problems with your child’s attendance.

Please contact the School Office on the first morning of any unexpected absence to tell us the reason for the absence and how long you expect this to be.  Unexplained  absences will be followed up by the School Office.

On the first day of returning to school, pupils should bring a dated letter detailing the absence and signed by a parent of carer.

In the unlikely event of the school not having been contacted after five consecutive days of absence, a letter will be sent from school as a reminder that we need to know the reason for the child’s absence.

If after two weeks no communication has been received from home, the school is legally bound to inform the Education Office.

Children with an attendance below 80%, or who have a history of previous poor attendance, will be referred to to the Education Welfare Officer and may be placed on the Fastrack to Prosecution Programme.

When a child does not have permission to be absent from school this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence and included in your child’s end-of-year report.  During the school year 2006/2007 the total of unauthorised absence was 1.3% of the total possible attendances.

The Education Attendance Service on behalf of Suffolk County Council will be issuing fixed penalty notices in the following situations where un authorised absence occurs:

• Where a pupil has taken holiday during term-time for 5 or more days and the absence is not authorised by the school
• Where a pupil is stopped with parents/carers during a truancy sweep and the absence is not authorised by the school
• Where a pupil has missed at least 10 sessions (5 school days) of unauthorised absence in a school term

In every case a pupil will have lost a minimum of 10 sessions (5 school days) of unauthorised absence in a school term.

Parents Holiday in Term Time

We strongly discourage parents from taking children out of school in term time as this has a detrimental effect on their education.

The school is currently reviewing its policy on term time holidays in conjunction with neighbouring schools