Attendance and Absence

School Day:

School starts at 08:45am.

End of school day – 15:25pm

Procedure for Illness/Absence

Please call the absence line on 01981 551006 or email with a detailed explanation of absence to attendance@fairfield.hereford.sch.uk before 8.45am.

If your child is late for school, they will need to sign in at reception. 

Please ensure you update the school with this absence if it is longer than 1 day. If your child is absent from school, parents and carers have a responsibility to report this to the school and provide specific information. Students will be marked as unauthorised if there is not an appropriate or agreed reason for absence given; schools are obliged to follow up unauthorised absences and take further action in line with our Attendance Policy and the requirements of the DfE.

Giving your child the best start

90% attendance may seem like an acceptable level of attendance, however in reality that means your child misses half a day of school every week, the equivalent of 19 school days (almost one whole month), during the year. Children who miss this amount of school do not achieve as well as their peers who attend more regularly.

Tips to encourage good school attendance

• Ensure your child attends every day the school is open except when a statutory reason applies.
• Show your child that you think school attendance is important
• Make sure you know what time the school day starts and ensure your child arrives at school on time. Arriving late can be embarrassing for your child and disruptive to the class, especially if lessons have started. Your child may miss important information which is often given at the start of the day.
• Encourage good habits, such as going to bed on time, reading before bed, regular bedtimes
• Encourage your child to get everything ready for school the night before
• Attend parent evenings to discuss your child's progress
• Make appointments for the dentist or doctor after school hours or during school holidays where possible and make sure children return to school after an appointment if it has to be at school time.
• Do not take your child on holiday during term time.
• Always let the school know when your child is off school through illness and when they can expect them back.
• Work with your school and Herefordshire Council to help them understand if there are barriers to your child's attendance.
• Proactively engage with any formal support offered – including any parenting contract or voluntary early help plan to prevent the need for legal intervention.

Your child’s attendance figure will appear on their academic reports, and it is always requested when students change schools or transition to further education.  It is sometimes very easy to think that the odd day here and there or an afternoon missed does not really matter, but we have noticed over the past few years that in some cases these ‘occasional days’ can add up to a significant amount of time missed. We monitor attendance weekly and if we see a drop in attendance, we will send letters home to make parents/carers aware of it and to ask whether support is needed for attendance.  We can offer a range of strategies and links to external agencies if required.  The most effective strategy of all is for parents/carers and the school to work together to help our young people understand that good attendance is very important and crucial training for later life and the world of work.

When 10 sessions are marked as unauthorised (5 days in total) in a 10-week period, a letter of concern is sent home and possibly a penalty notice will be issued.

Notification of Pupil Absence: 15 consecutive or cumulative days' absence using Code I only:

Schools are legally required to notify the local authority where pupils are coded I (illness) and who the school has reasonable grounds to believe will miss 15 days consecutively or cumulatively because of sickness.

When 10 sessions are marked as unauthorised (5 days in total) in a 10-week period, a letter of concern is sent home and possibly a penalty notice will be issued.

Medical absence

We recognise that on occasion some children may experience illness or have exceptional reasons preventing regular attendance. To assist parents deciding whether their child is too ill to attend school or otherwise, the NHS have produced a guide that you may find useful: Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk) 

We ask if you could please arrange medical appointments before or after school if possible. This will reduce the number of lessons missed.  We expect students to return to school for the rest of the day or to come into school before an appointment unless there are specific reasons not to do so.

Please provide evidence if your child/children are required to attend a medical appointment.

This can be via a photo, screenshot or letter and sent to attendance@fairfield.hereford.sch.uk 

Letters can be photocopied upon arrival/ collection by reception. Please also call the attendance line to notify in advance of the appointment.

Please note that all information will be recorded on the student’s file.

For all other absences, please ensure an ‘Absence request form’ is completed at least two weeks prior to the absence. This can be found on our website under: Parents & Carers > Forms and Letters

The attendance policy is on the school website www.fairfield.hereford.sch.uk, together with information about strategies and agencies that may be able to offer support to improve attendance if needed.

Thank you for your ongoing support in this matter.

 

School anxiety and refusal parents guide

https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/a-z-guide/school-anxiety-and-refusal/