Attendance

Good attendance is 96% or above.  This has a positive impact on a child's opportunities for progress and attainment.  Research has shown that for every 10% drop in a child's attendance rate, this equates to the lowering of their outcomes by a grade at GCSE.  90% attendance or below is classed as 'persistent absence' and school attendance meetings will be convened to address this.

Absence from school may only be authorised at the discretion of the Head Teacher.  Following the publication of the Department for Education's stautory guidance Working together to improve school attendance in 2024 it is extremely unlikely that any term-time holiday will be authorised.  Applications for term-time holiday are available from the school office.

When a child has 10 sessions of unauthorised absence, the equivalent to 5 school days, then you may be subject to a penalty notice.  Wiltshire Council information about penalty notices for unauthorised leave of absence during term time explains that Section 444A and Section 444B of the Education Act 1996 give powers to Local Authorities to issue Penalty Notices where the parent/carer is considered capable of, but unwilling, to secure an improvement in their child's school attendance.  For further information visit:

Wiltshire information about attendance

Please read our Attendance Policy in the policies section of the website which stipulates all the necessary details and procedures that will be followed if attendance is a concern.

Click here to see our attendance policy

Illness and Appointments

Where possible, please try to schedule routine appointments outside of the school day.  We understand that children will need to attend emergency appointments and sometimes it is not possible to choose a time, such as attending hospital or for exams, so please provide copies of relevant letters with the request for absence forms.

If your child is sick, then we follow Public Health England guidelines regarding the period that a child needs to be be kept off school.  For a useful summary see:

NHS - Is my child too ill for school?

If you feel your child is too ill to attend school, please ring the main school number (01380 870376) and inform us of the reason for absence before 8:45am.