Oxenhope CE Primary School
We love to celebrate good attendance at school and each week we have a class celebration for the children/classes which have highest attendance above 96%.
We also give certificates out at the end of the year for the children who have received 100% attendance.
Our whole school target is 96% attendance.
Regular and punctual school attendance is very important, and we know from many studies that children who attend well do better in school. Our learning mentor tracks all children’s attendance and will discuss with any families any concerns about absence.
Holidays
In September 2013 the rules around absence from school were changed by the Department for Education (DfE). There is no longer any entitlement to absence due to holidays. Headteachers and Governors can only consider absence during term time, where the absence is for exceptional reasons. All planned absence must be agreed in advance and families are advised that unauthorised absence may incur a fine of £60 which rises to £120 if not paid promptly. If you wish your child to be considered for absence during term time, you are asked to fill in the form below with as much information as possible.
Illness
From time-to-time children may need to be absent from school due to ill health. We would encourage all families to try to keep absence due to ill health to a minimum. We are allowed to administer medicines or other medication which has been prescribed by a doctor and we are always willing to support families who have brought children to school when they are a little under the weather. We are happy to phone families if a child deteriorates and are also very happy to welcome parents and carers who want to see their child at lunchtime and administer a further dose of paracetamol or similar product.
You may find this website useful: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/
Unauthorised / Authorised absence.
There are occasionally times when we can authorise a child being absent from school for a legitimate reason. Please note that we cannot authorise absence due to another family member’s illness, headlice, or a sporting fixture. We are keen to help children be at school every day, so if there is an exceptional case where you need help to get a child to school, please contact us.
If your child is away from school, we would ask that you contact the school office on 01535642271 and let us know. This helps us to manage staff time in the school office. If we have not heard from you regarding your child’s absence from school, we will phone or text you. At regular intervals, if we have any unexplained absences for your child we may need to do a home visit or initiate our child missing in education procedures.