At Brook we know that attending school regularly is very important to your child's future. Children who miss school frequently can easily fall behind with their school work and may do less well in their exams.

Regular attendance is not only a legal requirement but is essential for children to maximise their educational opportunities.

It can be extremely hard for a pupil to catch up on missed work, regular absence can really disadvantage your child in life.  Children who miss one day each week from school, are missing out on 20% of their education.

Late arrival at school

When your child arrives late at school, they miss important events like assembly, teacher instructions and introductions. Children also feel embarrassed at having to enter the classroom late.

Frequent lateness can add up to a considerable amount of learning being lost. This can seriously disadvantage your child and disrupt the learning of others. Please help your child to be punctual.

Remember school starts at 8.50am & ends at 3.30 pm (3.20pm for Reception)

Illness

If your child is ill please report their absence to the school on 01384 38988 by 9:30am each day of the absence.

For sickness and diarrhoea (if you think its a bug) please allow 48 hours after last episode before returning to school.

If your child is saying they do not feel well but you are unsure about whether it warrants a day off please send them to school. If they are truly ill we will ring you. Use common sense when deciding whether your child is too ill to attend school.

Ask yourself the following questions:

· Is my child well enough to do the activities of the school day?

· Does my child have a condition that could be passed on to other children or school staff?

· Would I take a day off work if I had this condition?

Medical Appointments

If your child has to have a medical or dental appointment in school time please do your best to have it after 2PM and then your child can have their registration mark for the afternoon before you pick them up. If it needs to be a morning appointment, please try and bring them to school first to get their mark and then return then to school afterwards. Every half-day absence from school has to be classified by the school as either AUTHORISED or UNAUTHORISED. This is why information about the cause of any absence is always required. Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from school for a good reason like illness (where a child it too ill to attend school) medical/dental appointments which unavoidably fall in school time, emergencies or other unavoidable cause.

The Department for Education guidance states, "if the authenticity of illness is in doubt, schools can request parents to provide medical evidence to support illness. Schools can record the absence as unauthorised if not satisfied of the authenticity of the illness but should advise parents of their intentions. Medical evidence can take the form of prescriptions, appointment cards etc, rather than a doctors note. 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."

Can I take my child on holiday during term time?

As parents, you have a legal responsibility to ensure your child's attendance at school. Holidays should only be taken during the school holiday period. All pupils are expected to attend 100% of the time unless the absence is authorised by the Headteacher. During the academic year, pupils are at school for 190 days and at home for 175 days.

You should not book a family holiday during term time. Whilst you may think this is beneficial, taking a holiday during term time means that children miss important school time and it will be difficult for them to catch up on work.

It is at the discretion of the head teacher and governors of the school as to whether leave during term time is authorised.  Head teachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. In this instance the head teacher will determine the length of time a child can be away from school.  Please note leave is unlikely to be granted for the purposes of a family holiday.  

If after considering whether there are exceptional circumstances and the school does not agree the absences, you take your child out of school, the school may record this as unauthorised absence. This could result in a fixed penalty fine being issued by the local authority and as a result you may be fined in respect of each parent and each child, payable up to £120 for each. Therefore two parents and two children could potentially receive fines amounting to a maximum £480. If you choose not to pay the fine the local authority may take legal proceedings against you.

If you do want to take your child out of school, you must complete the school's leave of absence request form - these are available at the school office. The school will then consider the request. 

Please see our Attendance Policy for more details.

Help with your child's attendance

If you are having problems getting your child to school or have any concerns about attendance please contact the school office for advice, please contact our Attendance Officer, Mrs D Felton on 01384 389888 

Useful Links