Attendance
Our Senior Attendance Lead is Mrs Jenny Campbell, Headteacher. Please talk with her if you have any concerns regarding your child's attendance. We will do our best to support all of our families to ensure the children attend school regularly.
Please let us know the reason why your child is unable to attend school on or before the morning of their absence. You can use ParentMail, email office@blagdonprimaryschool.com or leave a message on our Absence Line 01761 462416 option 2.
If a child is not present for morning registration and we receive no explanation for their absence by 9.00am, we will phone to ascertain why they are not at school and that they are safe.
Please see a link at the bottom of this page to view our Attendance Policy/Procedure.
Medical Appointments (doctors, hospital, dentist etc.): Please inform us if your child has an appointment - parents are asked that wherever possible they remove their child from school for the minimum amount of time or make an appointment out of school hours or in the holidays.
Lateness: Registration takes place between 8.45am and 8.55am. Registers close at 8.55am; children arriving between 8.55am and 9.00am will be entered in the register as late (L code). After 9.00am, your child will be marked as unauthorised absence for the session (U code). All children arriving late should please report to the School Office to sign in.
Illness: Please see the Public Health Publication "The Spotty Book" Notes on Infections Diseases in Schools and Nurseries for guidance on exclusion periods during illness. Exclusion period summary can be found here.
Absence without explanation or authorisation: This will be classed as unauthorised absence and recorded in the register as such. Unauthorised absence could lead to the Local Authority issuing a penalty notice.
Requests For Absence/Holiday’s During Term Time: The Headteacher may only authorise leave of absence in exceptional circumstances and will require evidence to validate any request. Term time holidays should not be booked, as they are likely to be unauthorised and could lead to the issuing of a fine by the Local Authority. Parents wishing to request leave of absence should collect a request form from the office or download here and submit to the Headteacher for approval. An appointment can be made should you wish to discuss absence requests with the Headteacher - please contact the School Office for availability.
Penalty Notices/Fines Penalty Notices: are issued by the local authority and require each parent of a child of compulsory school age, whose attendance has been unsatisfactory, to pay a penalty, currently £80.00 if paid within 21 days or £160.00 if paid within 28 days. If the Penalty Notice is not paid, the case is automatically summonsed to appear in Court. Courts have a wider range of sentencing options, which could include a maximum fine of up to £2,500.
We are required by law to count any unexplained absences as unauthorised. A record is kept of a child’s attendance, including all absences, and is included in our annual report to parents. Figures for the whole school are reported to the Department of Education and Local Authority.
If a child is registered at school, parents have the legal responsibility for ensuring that their child attends regularly.
