Absence and illness

General absence

Please do not send your child to school if they are unwell. If your child is unwell and not able to attend school, please call the school to inform them as early as possible.

In the case of prolonged absence it is our policy that you should ring the school every day that your child is unable to come to school.

The Education Welfare Officer is primarily responsible for school attendance and liaison with social services.

Authorised absence

Please be aware that we do not authorise absence during term time except in truly exceptional circumstances.

There are penalties for children taking unauthorised absences in term time, which you can read more about here.

If you wish to apply for authorised absence for your child, you will need to complete a Leave of Absence Request Form, which you can get from the school office.

Reducing the spread of infection in schools

Unfortunately it is very easy for any illness to spread within a school environment and, therefore, we would like to request your assistance in trying to reduce the infection risk by following the School Guidance detailed below:

Diarrhoea and/or vomiting: Children must not attend school for 48 hours after the last bout of vomiting or diarrhoea. The viruses that cause gastrointestinal symptoms can remain infectious for up to 48 hours after the symptoms have resolved and, therefore, cross-infection remains a risk factor.

Fevers and ‘Flu-like’ symptoms: If your child has a fever and flu-like symptoms, they must remain off school until they have had a negative result from a Covid test AND a normal temperature for 24 hours. The viruses that cause fever and flu-like symptoms can remain infectious for up to 24 hours after the symptoms have resolved and, therefore, cross-infection remains a risk factor.

Influenza: If your child is diagnosed as suffering from influenza they must remain off school until all symptoms have resolved.

Hand hygiene: Hand hygiene is of paramount importance at the moment. Children wash their hands when they first come into school in the morning and at regular points in the day. In between these times, they use hand sanitiser. All hand hygiene is supervised by an adult in school, in line with government guidelines. We make use of the ‘Catch it. Bin it. Kill it.’ approach and all classes are equipped with lidded bins for the disposal of tissues. Children are required to wash their hands after sneezing into them (although we remind them to try to sneeze and cough into their elbows, rather than hands) or using a tissue.

Please can you support us by reiterating the messages around the importance of good hand hygiene, especially if your child has a cough (after Covid has been ruled out) or cold.