School starts at 8: 45 am

Persistent lateness will be referred to our Family Support Worker Ms. Barnes, and then to the Early Intervention Service. The Local Education Authority has recently initiated systems to track pupils who are absent or persistently late for school and have begun imposing fines in some cases. The fine for unnecessary absences is a fixed penalty of £60 per child per parent/carer.

Every half-day absence from school has to be classified by the school (not by parents), as either AUTHORISED or UNAUTHORISED.

This is why information about the cause of any absence is always required in writing.

Unauthorised absences are those which the school does not consider reasonable and for which no ‘leave’ has been given. This type of absence can lead to the Authority using sanctions and/or legal proceedings. This includes:

1. Parents/carers keeping children off school unnecessarily
2. Truancy before or during the school day
3. Absences which have never been properly explained
4. Children who arrive at school too late to get a mark
5. Shopping, looking after other children or birthdays
6. Day trips and holidays in term time.

The registers are ‘closed’ at 9.15 a.m. and after this time any child not in class is recorded as ‘ABSENT’. If a child is late more than five times over a two week period then it will referred to Early Intervention Service.

Another key issue being addressed by the Government is that of family holidays during term time. PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST LEAVE FOR YOUR CHILD DURING TERM TIME AS THIS WILL HAVE TO BE REFUSED. If you would require any further information, this can be obtained from school.

Thank you for your co-operation in this matter it is greatly appreciated.