ABSENCE
Illness
If your child is going to be absent from school due to illness, then please inform the office before 9am in the morning, and let us know why your child is going to be absent, and when you expect them to return. If your child is off for more than one day, we must still be informed each day of your child's absence until they return to school.
Please note in instances of sickness and/or diarrhea, please keep your child off school for 48 hours, timed from the last occurrence.
Please call 01736 794180 to let us know.
Medication
We will administer prescribed medication to children if:
- They are handed in to the office with clear written instructions. Instructions on the bottle is not sufficient
- The medicine is labelled with the child's name and dose
- The timing of the dose is not critical
- Parents should collect medicines from the office at the end of the school day
We have to dispense all medicines centrally; this has to been done at playtime or lunch time. Where medicine has to be given four times a day, it would be helpful if you gave one dose before school and two after, leaving us to give one only in the middle of the day.
The above does not apply to asthma inhalers which often need to be kept with the child. Parents need to complete our Asthma form to enable this. It is available from the school office. Parents of children with asthma should encourage them to learn to take responsibility for their own medication.
Holidays
Unless there are exceptional circumstances, we do not authorise holiday.
We do consider authorising time off for exceptional circumstances.
To apply for exceptional circumstances please ask at the school office.
Parents/carers must complete an exceptional circumstances form with as much detail as possible as to why they are unable to take time in school holidays. The Head of School will decide whether or not circumstances are deemed to be exceptional and all requests will receive a response stating the outcome of the request.
If your child is absent from school without authorisation, you will be committing an offence under the Education Act 1996. We may submit a request to Cornwall Council for a Penalty Notice to be issued, in accordance with Sections 444A and 444B of the said Act. Penalty Notices are issued per liable parent, per child and each carry a fine of £80 if paid within 21 days or £160 if paid after this but within 28 days. If your child is further absent from school without authorisation within any 3-year period, you will be committing a further offence under the Education Act 1996. We may submit a request to Cornwall Council for a Penalty Notice to be issued, in accordance with Sections 444A and 444B of the said Act. Penalty Notices for a second offence are issued per liable parent, per child and each carry a fine of £160, payable within 28 days. Importantly, fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three-year period. Once this limit has been reached, other action such as a parenting order or prosecution will be considered. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice may also result in legal action. If you are prosecuted and attend court because your child has not been attending school, you could get a fine of up to £2,500. Cornwall Council may also apply for the costs incurred in taking the matter to Court, including legal costs. Absence not authorised by the school may also result in a prosecution in the Magistrates’ Court under Section 444(1) or Section 444(1A) of the Education Act 1996, leading to a fine of up to £2,500 and/or a custodial sentence. Again, Cornwall Council may also apply for the costs incurred in taking the matter to Court, including legal costs. Money raised from fines is only used by the local authority to cover the costs of administering the system, and to fund attendance support. Any extra money is returned to the government.
Medical appointments
If you need to take your child out of school for any length of time to attend a medical appointment, then the school office must be notified in advance. We also ask to see the letter confirming the date and time of the medical appointment. Please ensure that, where possible, medical appointments are made outside of school time.
ATTENDANCE
Since September 2015, a new challenge has faced every school with the reduction of the threshold for persistent absenteeism now set at 10%, reducing from 15% in previous years. This amounts to 19 school days in a year. This is a very tight target and is linked to holidays in term time and indiscriminate days off.
Additionally, the guidance for issuing penalty notices for unauthorised absence has been revised. It now states that:
Penalty Notices can only be issued in cases where a pupil of compulsory school age has been absent from school and the absence has not been authorised
Or
Where a pupil arrives persistently late
The minimum level of absence necessary is 10 or more school sessions (5 days) in any 100 day period.
Prosecution under the Education Act should be considered as an alternative where 20 or more sessions of unauthorised absence occur.
It is therefore essential that all requests for ‘leave of absence’ are made well in advance to enable time to check reasons, evidence and previous attendance information. Do not assume that authorisation will be given. School term dates are published well in advance to enable parents to make plans for holidays out of school time. These can be found either on the school website or Cornwall Council website.
This guidance is intended to be used in tackling parentally condoned absence where it is reasonable to expect that a parent can ensure the child’s regular attendance but are not willing to take responsibility for doing so.
Please help us and your child by ensuring that their attendance remains above 95%.
