Attendance

Iveshead School is committed to providing an education of the highest quality for all its students and recognises that attendance is the essential foundation to positive outcomes for all of our students. We have a continuing responsibility to manage and improve attendance across our school community, and we recognise that this can only be achieved by working jointly with our families. Good punctuality is important and helps get your child into good habits.

The morning session begins at 8:30am

What parents/carers can do to help their child's attendance:

Make school attendance a priority.
Talk about the importance of showing up to school every day, and make that the expectation.
Help your child maintain daily routines, such as finishing homework and getting a good night's sleep.
Try not to schedule dental and medical appointments during the school day.
Don't let your child stay home unless they are genuinely ill.
Attend open evenings and functions.
Share any attendance concerns with the school attendance team.

Please see NHS guidance if you are unsure about your child's illness – Is my child too ill for school? – NHS

Absence procedures:

If your child is going to be absent from school, it is important that you notify us on each day of absence by 8:30 am, where possible. This can be done in the following ways:

MCAS APP: Go to the attendance section of your child's profile and click 'report an absence', which can be found at the top of the page. Complete the absence notification. This will automatically come through to our attendance team.

Phone: 01509 602156 and then press option 1. Please leave a message with your child's name and reason for absence.

For any other attendance concerns or queries, please email [email protected]

If we do not receive notification of absence before 8:30 am, we will contact you to ascertain the reason for absence. If no reason for absence is received, we will record the absence as unauthorised 'O'.

Attendance and absence codes

Absence can only be authorised by the School and cannot be authorised by parents and carers. All absences will be treated as unauthorised unless a satisfactory explanation for the student's absence has been received.

On each occasion, when the register is taken, the appropriate national attendance and absence code must be entered for every student. The School may authorise an absence for illness if we have received an explanation from a parent/carer. Attempts should be made for routine dental or GP appointments to be made outside of school hours. Parents are encouraged to inform the school before these appointments, and proof of appointment should be provided where possible.

Other authorised circumstances:

Iveshead School has discretion over whether to authorise absences for other circumstances and will consider the following factors:

The nature of the event
The frequency of the requests/absence required
The overall attendance of the student

A holiday is not considered an exceptional circumstance. You cannot usually take your child away during term time. You can be fined or face legal action for taking your child on holiday during term time.