At Ashford CE we believe that regular and punctual attendance at school is key to the academic and social development that will improve the life chances of children and young people. We establish a learning environment which promotes and celebrates positive patterns of attendance.
Each week we celebrate the classes with the best attendance in worship. We reward individual children with good or improved attendance with stickers and certificates. At the end of the year we celebrate the children who achieve attendance of 96% or better, our school target attendance.
Parents and carers have a duty to ensure that their children attend school regularly and punctually in order to get the most benefit from the opportunities.
Any absence affects children’s patterns of learning and regular absence will impact the outcomes that children achieve.
You must provide the school with at least 2 emergency contacts for your child. If a child is ill or unable to attend school it is essential that parents notify us as early as possible on the first day of absence. Please notify us in advance of any medical appointments which will mean your child is absent from school.
It is a parent’s legal responsibility to ensure that a child attends school and to inform the school of the reason for absence before 9.00am daily. Please do not wait for us to contact you.
We monitor attendance closely and if your child’s attendance falls below 90% we will invite you into school for a meeting to discuss how we can work with you to improve attendance. If attendance does not improve you may be asked to provide medical evidence for absences and your child’s attendance will be discussed with our Inclusion Officer from the Local Authority.
In keeping with national policy, we strong discourage any absence for holidays during term time and are unable to authorise it. Children should only be removed in exceptional circumstances. Legislation that became in August 2024 states that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Applications for leave of absence for exceptional circumstances must be made in advance, please speak to the school office who will provide you with the necessary form.
Parents and carers may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice for unauthorised holidays during term time or for persistent poor attendance at school. Please see our Attendance Policy on our School Policies page for more details.
Children who have a sickness or diarrhoea bug must then remain at home for 48 hours after the last episode in order to prevent transmission to others. These bugs spread rapidly in a school environment. (This changes to 24 hours if sick for other reasons) If a child is sick in school, we will ring you in order to collect them. If a child is hurt and we are concerned, we will also ring to advise you and agree further action if appropriate.
We are unable to administer non-prescribed medication or pain killers in school unless this has been specifically agreed by a Senior Leader. We are also unable to apply suncream or administer Calpol. Parents should apply suncream to the children before coming to school. Parents may come to school during the day to administer Calpol and other adhoc medicines if required. We do, actively support children who have the need for life supporting medication, such as inhalers and epi-pens. To enable us to react instantly to your child’s condition, inhalers and epi-pens are stored in a red medical rucksack hanging on or very near the door in your child’s classroom. This rucksack will be taken on all class/school trips, into the hall and the playground for outdoor PE and fire drills. If your child is prescribed with an inhaler or epi-pen, then please contact the school office for a Medication Form or if you have any further queries. It remains the parents responsibility to ensure medication is within date. All medication MUST be handed to Miss Eglesfield in the School Office and NOT to the class teacher.