Attendance 

Parents / Carers are requested to telephone the office on 01297 552231 and leave a message on the absence line before 9.05am if their child is going to be absent/late. The reason for absence must be in full i.e. sickness on Sunday, temperature, severe cold etc.

Please do not leave vague messages i.e. unwell, ill or under the weather as the school office will have to call you back for more information.

Office staff check all class registers between 9.05am and 9.15am on a daily basis, to identify those pupils who are absent. Where a child is absent from school and we have not received any verbal or written communication from the parent, we initiate the first day contact procedures. If no message is left with the school office we will telephone in turn each of the contacts on the list provided by the parents, if we are still unable to get confirmation as to why the child is not at school we will processed to a welfare check (this is a visit to the home address), this is carried out by the senior staff at Colyton or the Educational Welfare Officer (EWO), if we are still unable to confirm the child's welfare we will call 101 to report the child as missing. This is the school’s duty of care and safeguarding for your child.

The school gates open at 8.30am, when a member of staff will be on duty. 

The class register opens at 8.50am and closes at 9.00am. If your child arrives after the register has started at 8.50am but before it has closed at 9.00am they will be coded as late (L). If they arrive after 9.10 am they will be coded as arriving after the register has closed (U) which is an unauthorised absence.

The school attendance policy states that the attendance of children who arrive late will be registered as follows:

*A child arriving after the register has started but before the register has closed will be coded as “late” (code L).

*A child arriving after the register has closed will be coded as “Late after registration closed” (code U). This is counted as an “Unauthorised Absence”

*The times from which children will be marked as “late” or “late after registration closed” will be clearly communicated to parents.

We have a 48 hour rule for any sickness/diarrhoea to try to prevent any outbreaks. Please ensure that if your child has suffered with either of these, they remain absent from school for a clear 48 hour period from the last attack.

Central to raising standards in education and ensuring all pupils can fulfil their potential is that pupils need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education.

Missing out on lessons leaves children vulnerable to falling behind. Children with poor attendance tend to achieve less in both primary and secondary school.

The government expects:

• Schools and local authorities to:

• Promote good attendance and reduce absence, including persistent absence;

• Ensure every pupil has access to full-time education to which they are entitled; and,

• act early to address patterns of absence.

• Parents to perform their legal duty by ensuring their children of compulsory school age who are registered at school attend regularly.

• All pupils to be punctual to their lessons

Please click here to read the First Federation Trust Attendance Policy. 

If you are unsure if your child is well enough to attend school then visit this NHS website to help you. 

Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk)