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A member of Dales Academies Trust

Attendance / Absence

To ensure children make good progress in school, good attendance is essential. Every Day Counts!

We have various rewards and initiatives in school to promote good attendance and punctuality and we are delighted that our attendance has improved significantly over the past few years.

Our Parent Support Advisor, Mrs Partridge, is always on hand to support with attendance. Please contact us for our attendance policy.

Reporting Absences

If your child is ill and cannot attend school, please telephone the school office on 01748 822104 and leave a message on the absence line or email the school office on admin@trinityr.dalesmat.org no later than 9.30am.

If we have not heard from a parent or carer by 9:30am the following procedure will take place:

  • Phone call home to the parent or carer to ask for a reason for absence.
  • If no contact can be made a message will be left asking parent or carer to contact the school office immediately
  • A further My Child at School or email message may also be sent to ask parents or carers to contact school
  • If there has still been no contact by 10 am we will attempt to contact any other person we have listed on the school system for your child.
  • If we are still unsuccessful in making contact with anyone, the absence will be referred to the headteacher (or member of SLT) who will action a home visit. This is so the headteacher can speak with a parent or carer and ensure that the child is safe.
  • If contact is not made on a home visit the headteacher (or member of SLT) will action safeguarding procedures.

To ensure the safety of our children it is important that we know where they are, so please support us with this. Please ensure that you contact us every day your child is absent.

Lateness

As per our school policy, the class registers are taken at 9 am. Children arriving after 9 am must do so via the school office. If children arrive after 9.10 am they will be marked as late on the attendance register for that morning. Children arriving after 9.30 am will be marked with a U (which is an unauthorised code).

School will monitor the level of lateness of each child and letters and communication will follow when children accumulate lateness. Meetings with the headteacher and Mrs Partridge may also follow for persistent lateness.

Illness, Medical and Dental Appointments

  • If your child has suffered from diarrhoea or vomiting, please ensure they are kept off school for 48 hours after the last bout of illness.
  • For other illnesses you can contact the school office who can give further information regarding the official guidance for time children should be off in specific cases.
  • It is very important that these recommendations are followed to ensure the safety and wellbeing of other children in school.
  • Whilst we understand medical and dental appointments cannot always be made outside of school hours we do ask parents/carers to try their best to limit the amount of time you need to take your child to appointments during the school day.
  • However should you need to take your child to an appointment during the school day, please let the school office know in advance and provide a letter or appointment card as evidence of the appointment.

Pupil Leave of Absence during Term time

Leave of absence during term time must be under exceptional circumstances and this is at the discretion of the headteacher. In most cases time off during term time will not be authorised and as a school we request that holidays are taken during the set school holidays rather than term time.

Government regulations state that children will only be granted leave of absence under “exceptional circumstances”. The guidance is very strict and the acceptable categories which a school can authorise an absence as ‘exceptional circumstances’ are very specific.

Applications must be sent to the school office at least 6 weeks prior to the date of absence. Short notice applications will more than likely be unauthorised.

If you still wish to request absence during term time you will need to complete and return a Leave of Absence Request Form, please contact the school office for a form. The Headteacher will then consider your request and advise you accordingly.