The staff and governors at St Andrew’s believe that time missed from school cannot easily be made up and disrupts the learning cycle. This is frustrating and upsetting for children and can affect their confidence and self-esteem. At any point in the school year, skills and concepts will have been introduced, reinforced and practised. The curriculum is very carefully planned and the manner in which this learning takes place cannot be recreated by giving a child work to do at home or during the holiday.
Requesting absence
Every half-day absence from school has to be classified by the school (not by the parent), as
either authorised or unauthorised. This is why information about the cause of any absence
is always required. Each half-day is known as a ‘session’.
Authorised absences are morning or afternoon sessions away from school for a genuine
reason such as illness (although you may be asked to provide medical evidence for your
child before this can be authorised), medical or dental appointments which unavoidably fall
in school time, emergencies or other unavoidable cause.
Unauthorised absences are those which the school does not consider reasonable and for
which no ‘leave’ has been granted. This type of absence can lead to the school referring to
the Local Authority for penalty notices and/or legal proceedings.
All applications for leave of absence should be handed in to school at least 2 weeks prior to the absence please, using the form below:
Lates
Our school day starts promptly at 8.45am and ends at 3.15pm. Families who are late must report to the school office and state the reason for lateness.
We work closely with our families who are struggling with their child’s attendance and/or punctuality. Please see a member of our staff if you would like support in these areas.
Our full Attendance and Punctuality Policy can be found in the ‘Policies’ section of this website.