Absence, Medical and Exceptional Leave (incl. Holidays)
Absence
Late
Class registers are taken at 8.45am. If a child arrives after 9.00am when the gates are closed he/she must be signed in at reception and a late mark will be recorded. If a child arrives after 9.20am when the registers are closed, this maybe recorded as an unauthorised absence unless there is a valid reason of which we have been previously notified either by telephone message, email or letter.
We monitor persistent lateness and the headteacher will request a meeting with parents if this becomes excessive.
Absence
Day 1 of absence - Inform the school before 9.30am of the reason and expected return date of your child. Any medical advice given or visits made.
Day 3 of absence - Update the school on your child's progress, any medical advice given and confirmation of when your child will return to school especially if condition worsens.
Day 5 onwards - Update the school on your child's progress regularly. Medical evidence may be requested for five days absence or more. If you are unable to provide medical evidence an unauthorised mark maybe given.
A child who has frequent absence due to illness may be offered a Support Plan or referred to the Educational Welfare Service (01482) 392146.
Any other planned absence, e.g. family funeral, music examination, day of religious observance, medical appointment etc, must be notified in advance, these will be classed as an authorised absence.
Medical / Illness
If your child is unwell and unable to come to school, please telephone school to inform us as soon as possible. If your child becomes unwell during the day, we will contact you directly. It is important that you inform us of any changes to contact telephone numbers or changes to circumstances. If your child needs to take prescribed medicine, you will need to come into the office to fill in a form to allow our staff to administer this on your behalf. Children should not be given medication to adminster themselves.
Head lice
If your child has head lice, they need to be treated immediately. Please see below guidance from "NHS choices".
Please let the office or class teacher know if you have treated your child for head lice so that we are able to let other parents know. This will help us to reduce the risk of head lice spreading further amongst other pupils in the school.
Sickness & Diarrhoea
If your child has a sickness / diarrhoea bug then they must not return back to school until 48 hours have lapsed.
Please click on the link for guidance from East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Administering Medication in School
If your child needs to take prescribed medicine, please come to the school office to complete a form to allow a member of staff to administer this on your behalf. The medication provided must be sent to school in a pre-measured syringe. This ensures that the responsibility of the dose is with the parent but also prevents unused medication with sensitive information recorded on the bottles being left in school.
We would only adminster medication when a child is required to take it four times per day. If a child only needs to take medication three times per day, this can be done at home in the morning, straight after school and at bed time.
If your child needs paracetamol, the same procedure applies however these can be provided in the pre-measured sachets.
When a member of staff has adminstered medication to a child, a letter will be sent home detailing the dose administered and the time it was administered. We would appreciate parents signing and returning the form to the school office on a daily basis.
Children must never be given medication to self administer. All medication brought into school must be left at the school office for the safety of all the children in school.
Requests for Absence from School in Exceptional Circumstances and Penalty Notices
All schools in East Riding have been advised by Education Welfare to ensure parents and carers are aware of the following:
You are required under the Education Act to ensure your child attends school regularly. If your child accrues 10 consecutive sessions of unauthorised absence you may be liable for a penalty notice (one days absence equals two sessions and a five day absence is equal to 10 sessions).
An unauthorised absence is any absence that the Head teacher has not given permission for or where an explanation has not been provided by the parents.
Parents must complete a request for absence from school for exceptional circumstances form and submit this to the school, allowing for sufficient time to enable the school to consider the request and inform parents of the decision.
Where parents do not follow the school’s procedures of submitting a request and simply remove their child without seeking prior approval, a warning may not be given and you may be liable for a penalty notice.
If your request is declined or you do not follow the correct procedure and you still take your child out of school each parent within your household may be issued with a £60 penalty notice for each child you have taken out of school. If a penalty notice remains unpaid after 21 days it will increase to £120. if after 28 days it remains unpaid you may be summoned to appear before the Magistrates to explain why your child has unauthorised school absences and you may be liable for a fine of up to £1,000.
Copies of the absence from school for exceptional circumstances request form with information for parents can be found by clicking on the links below.
Further guidance can be found on the East Riding of Yorkshire Council website. Please click on the link below.