Children are required by law to regularly attend school and as parents it’s your responsibility that this happens. Each school has its own attendance policy and you can read ours on our Policies page.  Click here to go to our Policies.

Biddick Hall Junior School expects its children to achieve an attendance in excess of 96% which allows for the usual coughs, colds and childhood illnesses that occur during the year.

 

 

What are the different types of absence?

There are two broad categories of absence:
Authorised absence: This is an absence that has been authorised by the school for a legitimate medical, emergency or unavoidable situation.
Typical examples of authorised absence include:
 illness that means a child is too unwell to come to school;
 following NHS advice regarding remaining off school following a period of illness (in the case of certain infectious illnesses);
 an emergency medical or dental appointment;
 the recent death of a close family member;
 religious observance, as long as certain conditions are met.

Unauthorised absence: This is where a pupil’s absence is for a reason deemed to be unacceptable by the school or where the reason for a pupil’s absence has not been provided and cannot be established.
Some examples of unauthorised absence include:
 looking after a younger sibling;
 time off for birthday celebrations;
 a family holiday;
 oversleeping;
 shopping trips or days out;
 waiting in for a delivery.

What about medical appointments?
We understand that pupils need to attend medical and dental appointments and that it is not always possible to arrange this outside of school time. However, we would request that any non-emergency appointments are made for outside of the school day as this keeps the disruption to a minimum and ensures that they do not miss important lessons.

 

Absence means:

  • Missing out on school work and it can be very hard to catch up.
  • Losing touch with friends and teaching staff.
  • Finding it more difficult to have a successful future after leaving school.
  • Having more opportunities to become involved in crime and anti-social behaviour either as victim or perpetrator.
  • If your children are registered at school, the law makes you responsible for making sure that they attend regularly.

 

YES ATTENDANCE MATTERS – MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD ATTENDS EVERY DAY