Attendance at Staverton
Our aim is to make your child’s school life a happy and enjoyable learning experience. To support your child’s education, you have an important role to play and we therefore ask for your assistance and co-operation in the following:
Attendance
Registers open at 8:45 and close at 9:00. Children arriving after 8:45 will be marked as late (L). Children arriving any time after 9:00 will be marked as late after registers close (U).
Children should attend school unless they are ill. You may be asked to provide medical certificates for lengthy or regular illnesses. On every day of any absence please ring 01225 782388 or email pupilabsence@staverton.wilts.sch.uk. to let us know why your child is not attending.
Taking your child out of school for shopping, birthdays, etc is not acceptable and will not be authorised. Occasionally there may be family emergencies such as a bereavement which may require children to be absent from school. In these circumstances, it is advisable to discuss the situation with the school as soon as possible, so that appropriate support can be given.
If you have problems with your child’s attendance, for example, they refuse to attend or are unhappy, please discuss the matter, in the first instance, with your child’s class teacher. Mrs Arlett, Mrs Sykes and Miss Jefferys are also on hand to discuss any attendance concerns you may have.
Punctuality
It is important that your child arrives at school on time. This helps the child to be calm and responsive for the start of the school day and ensures that they do not miss any of their education. Arriving late can cause embarrassment and be worrying for a small child, as well as disrupting the work of the child’s class. Good punctuality is positive habit forming for the future and encourages the important value of education. Research has shown that:
Medical appointments
Please information the office if your child has got a medical appointment. Try to make appointments for after school hours. An early morning or late afternoon appointment means your child does not have to miss a whole days’ schooling.
Absence for pupils during term time
The Local Authority is advising schools that it is not acceptable to take holidays in term time and that they should not be authorised. We understand that there may be an occasion when this is unavoidable, but this should be the exception, rather than the rule. Taking your child out of school in term time will have a detrimental impact on their education.
In advance, parents must make a written request to the Headteacher for leave of absence for their child during term time, stating the purpose/reason for the absence. By law, the school is not permitted to grant any leave during term time. Leave of absence is only permitted at the Headteacher’s discretion in exceptional circumstances.
We count on the support of every parent. We do realise that there can be genuine and sometimes unavoidable reasons for term time leave of absence. These cases will be considered, by the Headteacher, on their individual merits, before a decision is made.
Please find below an online copy of our leave of absence form. Physical copies can be collected from school reception. Please also find our attendance policy under the policy tab for more information.