It is vital that students attend our school every day in order to learn and progress.

Punctuality is an important part of self-discipline and essential to good time management.

Remember that the school day begins at 9:00am, daily, thus students need to be in school no later than 8:55am and attending at 8:45 if the student would like to attend Breakfast Club.
Any absence has a negative impact on a child’s learning; regular absence has a significant impact on achievement and opportunity.

Ideally, all students would have an attendance rate of 100% although, clearly, we recognise that occasionally students may not be able to attend. For this reason; attendance of 95% and above is considered as acceptable, attendance below 90% is a concern, and a child with an attendance rate below 85% is classed as a Persistent Absentee.

Reporting a Student Absence

We hope and expect that all parents will encourage students to attend regularly and punctually. If a child is unable to attend school, for whatever reason, parents should contact the School no later than 9:00am to explain the reason for absence. Clearly, students should only be absent where absolutely unavoidable.

Parents are asked to contact the school on each day of absence and may, in certain circumstances, be asked to provide medical evidence as to why their child is off school. Parents will be contacted, and home visits made if we do not receive any notification of a student absence.

Legal Framework

Section 7 of the Education Act 1996, states parents are responsible for ensuring that a child, of compulsory school age, attends school regularly and punctually. If parents fails in this duty, then the School will work with Stockport Local Authority and initiate legal proceedings; this may involve issuing Fixed Penalty fines or prosecution.

Leave of Absence in Term Time

Following changes in legislation in 2013, parents are no longer entitled to take leave of absence during term time.

THE SCHOOL CAN NOT AUTHORISE HOLIDAYS IN TERM TIME – IT IS ILLEGAL

If you have requests for leave of absence in term time you need to complete a ‘Leave of absence’ form.

This form can be collected from the school and handed into the students Key Worker, who will then pass this onto the Headteacher to decide the outcome of the request.

The Headteacher’s decision is final and cannot be appealed. If parents take their children out of school without making a request, or if parents still take their child out of school after a request has been denied, the absence will be marked as unauthorised and you may be issued with a Penalty Notice fine by Stockport Local Authority.

The Penalty Notice fine is £120.00 per parent, per child; this is reduced to £60.00 per parent, per child if the fine is paid within 21 days.

If not paid within 28 days, parents will be prosecuted by the Local Authority for failure to pay and this may result in a further increase
to the fine.