Children's Absence/Holiday
What to do if your child is absent
Please can we kindly remind parents/guardians of our schools absence procedures:
• Contact us as soon as possible (and before 9:30am at the latest) on the first day of absence; telephone (via the schools absence line), email or visit the school office
• Advise us on the nature of your child’s absence. Please note that in the event of sickness and/or diarrhoea, the exclusion period is 48 hours since the last bout of illness
• Update the school daily on each subsequent day(s) absence unless advised otherwise.
If your child is absent and we have not heard from you by 9:30am at the latest, we will telephone you and any other contacts that have been provided to us to confirm your child’s whereabouts. This is because we have a safeguarding duty to ensure your child’s safety as well as their regular school attendance.
A child not attending school is considered a safeguarding matter. This is why information about the cause of any absence is always required.
Please note, if no reason for absence is received before 12:00pm, it is a safeguarding requirement for us to visit the family home to ascertain your child’s wellbeing.
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What to do if my child is late
If you think your child will be arriving late at school, including for any reason such as dentist or medical appointments, please can we remind parents/guardians of our school late arrival procedures:
- Contact us as soon as possible (and before 9:30am at the latest); telephone (via the schools absence line), email or visit the school office
- Advise us on the nature of your child’s late arrival and a choice of lunch for the day (please note, cooked lunch orders have to be placed by 9:30am for the kitchen to have enough preparation time)
- Sign in at the front office at the time of arrival (registers in the classrooms are closed after 9:00am)
- Parents are unable to escort their child to the classroom if they arrive once the gates are closed.
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Holiday in Term Time?
Parents are strongly advised by the Government and Local Authority to avoid taking children out of school in term time because of the disruption it causes to their education.
We ask that if parents/guardians need to take children out of school, to please notify the school of all planned absences by completing an absence request form. Whilst your request may not be authorised, it will mean that we know not to worry about your child's welfare and they will not be treated as a missing child.
Please note, if your child has unauthorised absences for 10 sessions (1 day is 2 sessions) or more in a 100 session period, you will be liable to a fixed penalty notice and a fine.
More information can be found HERE in our Useful Parent Absence and Penalty Notice Guidance or HERE on the Gov website.
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If your child will not be attending a booked Hub Club or Den Booking
We understand that plans can change last minute. If this is the case but your child is meant to be attending a Hub Club or Den, please ensure you inform the office that they will not be attending. You can do this by either visiting the reception, calling us on 01425 611657 or emailing adminoffice@hordle.hants.sch.uk.
If we have a child unaccounted for at the end of the day, we will start procedures as per our Missing Child Policy, which may result in us making a 999 call and reporting the child missing and providing all personal details of the pupil concerned. We will continue to carry out all other missing child procedures as per our policy, in addition to the above, which includes sweeps of school, local area and all known contacts and possible friendships.
For this reason, and in order that we do not unnecessarily waste police time, it is absolutely VITAL that you also tell us if there is a change in pick up procedures or if your child is not going to attend a club that they would usually be expected to attend.
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If you have any queries, please speak to the school office.
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