Absence 

If your child is unwell and cannot attend school , please call the school office or leave a message on the answerphone. Letters are no longer necessary for sickness absence.

If your child is off school for more than 1 day - please call every day they are absent.

Lateness

At Stocks Green Primary School the register is taken at 8.50am and 1.20pm.  Pupils arriving after 8:55  must enter school by the main entrance and report to Reception where their name and the reason for lateness will be recorded.  The pupil will be marked as late before registration has closed (Code ‘L’). 

The register will close at 9.10am and 1.30pm.   Pupils arriving after the register has closed will be marked as late after registration (Code ‘U’) and this will count as an unauthorised absence.

Frequent lateness after the register has closed (U) will be discussed with parents and could provide grounds for prosecution or a Penalty Notice.

Regulations Governing Holidays in Term Time

• Any absence other than sickness requires a written request to the Head Teacher
•  From 1 September 2013, headteachers are unable to agree leave of absence for family holidays of any length during term time.
• Other leave will also not be authorised unless there are specific, unavoidable, exceptional circumstances.
• Should absence be agreed, headteachers can specify the number of days a pupil will be allowed to be absent from school. 
• Where leave of absence is not agreed and the pupil is out of school or the pupil is away longer than was agreed or an application has not been made in advance, the absence is recorded as unauthorised. 
• Headteachers cannot give retrospective approval.
• Where leave of absence is taken for a holiday that has not been authorised,  the local authority may issue a Penalty Notice. 
• Penalty Notices are issued to each parent for each child who is absent without the agreement of the headteacher.
• Penalty Notices carry a fine of £60 per parent per child if paid within 21 days increasing to £120 per parent per child if paid between 22-28 days.
• There is no right of appeal against the issuing of a Penalty Notice because the authorisation of absence is the sole responsibility of the headteacher.
• Where Penalty Notice(s) are unpaid, the local authority may consider taking legal action under Section 444(1) Education Act 1996 for failure to ensure a child’s regular attendance at school.
• If this happens, the case will take place before magistrates who could issue the maximum fine of £1000 per parent per child for this offence 

To view our attendance policy, please click on the link to the policies page below.