Illness/Absence/Holidays

If your child is ill and cannot attend school, please telephone us on 01623 625589 on the first day of absence and let us know. All absences now have to be accounted for and reported to the Department for Education.

Good attendance is vital for every child's development both socially and academically. We value good punctuality and attendance right from nursery and believe it ensures children understand their responsibilities and fosters good behaviours. 

We understand that from time to time, children become unwell with childhood illnesses and on some of these occasions they will need to be away from school. 

School can administer antibiotics, when it needs to be administered four times a day or any other named medication - parents/carers need to go to the school office and complete a medications consent form.  Once completed a named member of staff will ensure your child receives their medication at the correct time each day. 

School can also administer pain relief such as Calpol, again parents/ carers will need to complete a medication consent form, and the medication will be administered at the correct time by a named member of staff. All pain relief must be provided by the parent/ carer.

School follows the NHS guidelines for this, and we advise parents using these. We ourselves are not medically trained but feel confident in advising using this published advice. See below.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/#:~:text=It's%20fine%20to%20send%20your,to%20wash%20their%20hands%20regularly.

 

Removing your child from Education during term time

We encourage parents to not book holidays in school term time. 

The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 explanatory note states:
 
“Head teachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances”
 
Application for term-time leave of absence must be made in advance of the term-time absence. The form can be found at the bottom of this page or a hard copy may be obtained from the school office. 

Leave of absence will only be granted where the Head teacher considers it is due to ‘exceptional circumstances'. Parents will be informed by letter as to whether the request has been authorised or unauthorised. 

There are approximately 190 school days (380 sessions) a year which your child is expected to attend. There are also approximately 71 days (142 sessions) of school holidays. This is over 13 school weeks. Please ensure that your holidays are taken during this period. 

Any request for Leave of Absence of 5 days/ or 10 sessions in any 10-week period could lead to the County Council issuing a Penalty Notice or prosecution.  The first penalty issued in a three-year window, is set at £160 per child per parent/carer and should be paid within 28 days of the date on which the notice starts.   The second penalty notice issued within a three-year window is also set at £160 per child per parent/ carer and the third issued in a three-year window may lead straight to the County Council requesting prosecution at court. 

Medical proof will be required for any absences taken immediately before or after a Request for Leave of absence that leads to more than 5 days absence/ 10 sessions otherwise a Penalty Notice may be issued.

Useful Forms & Information

• Privacy Notice.pdf
• Emergency Contact Form
• Medicine Form

 

There are four entrances into school; two main accesses on Cox’s Lane, one at the back from Northfield Park and one from Charnwood Grove.  At 9.00 am, for security reasons, all gates are locked and access to school will be through a single point of entry, the main entrance on Cox’s lane.  Gates will be unlocked prior to the end of the school day.

If you bring your child by car please be careful where you park, as it gets very congested at the front of school. The zig-zag lines on the road must be kept clear for the safety of all children. In addition, we occasionally get complaints from residents living nearby because their entrances have been blocked.  We do ask you to consider others so that we can all live peacefully and safely together.

Under no circumstances should the rear entrance to the car parks be used by parents or children because of the potential danger from cars and delivery vehicles.

Please note also that dogs are not allowed on school grounds.

Breakages and Damage to School Property

The School Governing Body reserves the right to seek reparation from parents where their children cause breakages or damage to school property.