Absence
If your child is ill and not well enough to attend school, please contact the school by 9:00 a.m. to inform us. We ask parents to try not to make medical/dental appointments during school time if this can be avoided.
If you are not sure if your child should attend school, please bear in mind that following any bout of sickness or diarrhoea, your child should remain absent for 48 hours after the last bout. This is to make sure they are fit and strong enough for the rigours of a school day, and also to restrict infection between other children and staff members. For any other illnesses, we would ask you to work on the principle that; if you would go to work with the condition, then the child should come to school. For any child who deteriorates during the school day, parents will be contacted. No child would be made to stay at school if they are clearly unwell.
Requesting an Absence
Requests for absence from school need to be made on the required form available from the box in the main reception area or here. Requests for absence will only be authorised in particular circumstances e.g. medical appointments that cannot be made outside of school time, religious observance, funerals / weddings of immediate family members, and participation in outside examinations.
Holiday requests will not be authorised except in exceptional circumstances or unless a parent’s occupation prevents them from taking it during school holiday periods. Proof from your employer will be required if this is the case.
If you need to take your child out for an appointment during the school day, the school office will need to sign them out (a book is kept in the main reception) and sign them back in again upon their return. The school, along with all schools in the Melksham cluster, follow the county guidelines of reporting any unauthorised absence of five or more days to the local authority who will then issue a £60 penalty notice to each parent for each child. Full details of our attendance policy are made available in leaflet form to all parents of children starting school.