Attendance and Punctuality are both high priorities at Farnborough Road Infant School. Children in the UK have a right, by law, to attend school and it is the parents responsibility to ensure they attend.

Good attendance is directly related to good progress and attainment and good progress and attainment impacts directly on life choices.  Please give your child the best start in their educational journey. Please aim for 100% attendance.

96% attendance or above will have a very positive effect on your child- anything less will have a negative effect. Having 85% attendance in each of the 7 primary school years is the equivalent of a child missing one whole school year!

Holidays in term time can NOT be authorised by a Headteacher, even for Nursery children who are below statutory school age. Ofsted will expect a Headteacher to be applying the same expectations for good attendance to the Nursery children as for Reception , Year 1 and Year 2. Please check the dates of the school terms carefully and arrange holidays and appointments out of school time. Only urgent dentist or doctors appointments should be made during the school day. 

It is also important to be punctual as the classroom doors open at 8.40am, close at 8.55am and the gates will be locked at 9am so that it is safe for all children in school to play outside. If children arrive late for school they will be required to sign in at the school office and this will disturb the rest of the class who have already started their learning.

Attendance and punctuality is monitored weekly by the Headteacher. Poor punctuality and attendance will be challenged.

Parents and Carers Expectations 

As a parent/carer you are legally responsible for ensuring that your child attends school regularly and is punctual. We will work closely with you to help support you with this. This support may means meetings with Headteacher, governors and/or local authority.

Parents/carers should ensure that their children attend school every day and arrive on time by 8:40am.

Statutory Guidance 

The department for education has released new legislation coming to effect on 19th August 2024. This legislation reinforces expectations about school attendance and term-time absence, especially in relation to taking children on holidays outside of the 13 weeks of school holidays every year.

Under the new national framework, all schools will be required to consider a Fixed Penalty Notice when a child has missed 10 or more sessions (5 days) for unauthorised reasons within any 10-week rolling period. Each 10-week rolling period will begin on the first session of unauthorised absence for any child.

Absence from School 

If your child is absent from school please notify us via the School APP or email/ telephone the school on 01704 577637 by 8:30am on the morning of each absence leaving the student’s name, class, reason for absence as well as your relationship to the child.

A notification does not in itself authorise an absence. Only the school can authorise an absence after considering the information you have provided.

For longer periods of absence or where there are repeated absences a parent/carer may be asked to provide medical documentation to support the reasons why your child is/was not able to attend school and the reason for this. The school reserves the right to code absence as unauthorised where no such evidence is provided.

As a school, we have a duty of care to ensure students regularly attend school. Where there is an attendance concern it may be appropriate for staff to complete a home visit to check on the welfare of a student.

Authorised absence still affects your child’s attendance record. They may include:

• Sickness which means your child is too ill to attend.
• Unavoidable hospital, medical/dental appointments (please give the school prior notice).
• Days of religious observance (agreed by Headteacher in advance).
• Exceptional family circumstances.

Medical Appointments

We request that whenever possible medical/dental appointments are made outside of the school day. Where this is not possible it is expected that the student attends school before and /or after the appointment. It is expected that parents/carers notify the school via the School APP of any appointments with a copy of the appointment schedule.

Requests for Leave of Absence - Legal Framework 

The Headteacher is not allowed to authorise absence for students from school except in “exceptional circumstances”. Holidays are not considered “exceptional circumstances”.

In “exceptional cases” parents/carers can request in advance to take a leave of absence. Requests should be made via the School APP and should be sent into school at least four weeks in advance of the first day of the requested absence. The Headteacher will then consider the request and communicate the decision back to you in a timely way. Exceptional circumstances cannot be granted after the student has been absent from school.

Taking a child out of school for a holiday or when exceptional circumstances have not been granted will automatically result in the absence being recorded as unauthorised.

Unauthorised absence 

Unauthorised absences may include:

• Day trips or holidays during term time.
• Absences caused by illness where medical documentation has been requested by school.
• Lateness to school after registers have closed (9:15am).
• Medical appointments that could have been made outside of school hours – please ask for appointments outside of school hours, rather than accept the appointment you may be first allocated.
• School refusal.
• Birthdays, including treats, new pets etc.
• Shopping trips 
• Looking after family members who are unwell (unless there is an unavoidable emergency).
• Other unauthorised reasons.