Attendance, Absence and Lateness

It is our task as staff at Hinchley Wood Primary School to promote and support our children’s learning and enable each one of them to achieve their full potential.

The school staff, alongside the Local Authority, firmly believes that all pupils benefit from regular school attendance.

We know that every day lost to education can have a serious impact on children’s attainment and overall progress in school. As a staff we do all we can to encourage parents and carers to ensure that the children in our care achieve maximum possible attendance and that any problems that prevent full attendance are identified and acted on promptly.

There is a useful NHS guidance if your child is feeling unwell and you are unsure whether to send them to school.

Reporting Absence and Lateness

A new national framework for attendance came into force for primary and secondary schools from 19 August 2024. The changes apply at a national level and parents/carers should be aware that they will still be in force if your child moves to another school in another area.

If your child is absent from school for any reason then you must inform the school on each day of the absence by either:

telephoning the school office on 0208 398 1310 stating your child's name, class and reason for absence, including symptoms of illness; or

emailing the school office email account attendance@hinchleywoodprimary.co.uk stating your child's name, class and reason for absence, including symptoms of illness.

If your child must attend a medical or dental appointment during school time please inform us via attendance@hinchleywoodprimary.co.uk as soon as you receive the appointment timings and provide a copy of a confirmation letter or reminder message for our records at the same time.

If your child will be late to school please contact us to inform us of the reason and the time when they will arrive. Persistent absence or lateness will be reported to the Surrey Inclusion Service.

Request for Term Time Absence (from 19 August 2024)

The school holiday dates are published a year in advance and parents/carers must book their family holidays during those times. Leave of absence will not be granted for holidays to be taken in term time. In accordance with the DfE statutory guidance, holidays cannot be clasified under the exceptional circumstances criteria.

In exceptional circumstances when leave in term time is unavoidable, a leave of absence request form must be completed as soon as possible once the dates of the proposed period of absence are known and sent to attendance@hinchleywoodprimary.co.uk. This should be completed in advance of the first day of absence. The Leave of Absence Request Form can be obtained from the school office or downloaded below. Please note that a form is required for all leave, except medical appointments - evidence of the appointment will be required.

No parent/carer can demand leave of absence for their child as a right. If leave is taken, without prior authorisation, the child’s absence will be recorded as unauthorised in the school register. The Head Teacher will decide whether or not to authorise the absence having decided whether or not the circumstances are exceptional.

Should absence be taken without the Head Teacher’s authorisation the case will be referred to Education Welfare and a Penalty Notice may be issued.

Changes to absence related penalty notices

ABSENCE REQUEST FORM