Luston and Shobdon Community Primary Federation

Attendance

The importance of regular attendance at school

Regular attendance at school is vital to help children achieve and get the best possible start in life and there is a strong link between good school attendance and achieving good results.  


Your responsibilities as a parent 

All children aged between 5 and 16 are required by law to receive an education, and it is the duty of parents and carers to ensure that they are supported to do so.


If your child is unwell

We understand that children can't help being unwell and that there are occasions when they have an illness that will mean that they need to take time off school. However, we would ask parents and carers to carefully consider whether an illness means they are unable to attend school. We know this can sometimes be hard, but on this page you will also find some advice from the NHS and UKHSA.


If your child has a cold or other mild illnesses, they may not feel like their normal self, but are probably still well enough to come to school. We encourage our pupils build appropriate levels of resilience and would like to prepare them for life in the modern world, where minor illness does not exclude a person from normal daily activities.

If you decide that your child is too unwell to attend school you should inform the school office by 9:00am each day.


Holidays during term time

Government legislation prevents schools from authorising requests for children to be taken out of school for a holiday during term time.  
 
Requests for leave can only be granted by schools if there are exceptional circumstances, and holidays are not considered exceptional. Requests for leave must also be made to the school in advance, as schools are unable to authorise any absences after they have been taken.

If your child is absent from school and the absence has not been agreed by the head teacher, this will be recorded as unauthorised absence. If the national threshold of 10 unauthorised absences in a 10 week period is met, we are obliged to notify Herefordshire Council who may issue a penalty notice and/or other legal action. More information can be found here: Absence during term time - Herefordshire Council


Requests for exceptional absence

If you you are planning on taking your child out of school for a short period, please request an Excepional Leave Request form from the school office. This will need to be completed and returned ahead of any absence.