Attendance
Regular school attendance is extremely important to us at Christ Church. We want all of our pupils to experience all of the rich learning experiences that are being planned for them daily and to learn the discipline of arriving at school on time, prepared with all items needed for the day ahead. Regular absences or an absence for a long period of time, impacts on pupils' progress and causes disruption for their class and the staff planning their daily activities.
We monitor attendance closely and will always follow up any concerns around attendance to ensure that these are resolved as quickly as possible. Where a pupil has irregular attendance, the Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) may become involved to monitor the situation further.
Punctuality
Pupils are expected to arrive in the classroom by 8.50am (classroom doors open at 8.45am). Pupils who are late must enter school via the school office. Lateness is regularly monitored and concerns will be followed up in order to ensure that these are resolved as quickly as possible. Where a pupil is regularly late, the Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) may become involved to monitor the situation further.
When pupils are unwell
If pupils are unwell, we ask that parents call the school office by 8am to inform us that they will not be attending school so that we can mark their absence accurately in the register.
Please note there is a 48 hour rule for children that have sickness and/or diarrhoea.
Children who are taken ill at school are cared for by the office staff. Since medical facilities are limited, it is usually necessary to ask parents or carers to take their child home.
Planned Absence
Parents are required to complete a 'request for leave' form (see link below) for any planned absence during term time. As a school, our general rule is that no family holidays will be authorised in term time. We ask that parents complete the form and we will let you know the outcome - whether the absence will be authorised or unauthorised.
For requests that will mean more than 3 days absence during term time, parents may be asked to meet with the Headteacher to discuss the following:
- The reasons why this holiday cannot take place during the school holidays.
- How parents plan to support their child in catching up on missed learning?
- How parents plan to support their child in any challenges that they might face on return to school, for example, anxiety or challenges in settling back into the daily routines of school?
Where term-time absence occurs, parents may also receive a letter from the school detailing the impact of the absence and any pattern that has been noticed as part of the school's attendance strategy.
Where a pupil's attendance falls below 90%%, or a regular pattern is seen in unauthorised absence, such as a period of time being taken frequently leading up to the school holidays, the Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) may become involved to monitor the situation further.
We ask that our parents support the school by ensuring that absence during term time, for reasons other than illness, is only taken in 'exceptional circumstances' and not for any other reason.
Days of Religious Observance
Section 199 or the Education Act 1993 provides that an offence is not committed where the absence of a pupil of compulsory school age results from participation in a day set aside exclusively for religious observance by the religious body to which the parents belong. Such absences are classified as authorised absence. Parents should notify the school in advance of such an absence.