In the case of a child being absent from school due to illness, parents are expected to inform the school each day of absence and have two options to report their absence:

1. Leave a message on the school's absence line, with details of your child's full name, form, reason for absence and expected date of return. Primary 01604 272572 / Secondary 01604 264320.
   
   Or 
    
2. Report via Edulink One, for absence up to 5 days.  

If a message is not received through either of these methods, it will be assumed that your child should be attending school. Please do not email teachers or form tutors directly. 

Please note, if your child is suffering from diarrhoea or vomiting, they must stay off school for 48 hours until they have not been sick or had diarrhoea for at least 2 days.

Parents who have failed to inform the school of their child’s absence will receive an email or text message; parents then have the remainder of the school day to contact the attendance line through one of the methods listed above. If no contact has been made by 3:30pm, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised.

Absences due to illness will normally be authorised once you tell us. Please note that in cases of absence more than five days, we may need the support of medical evidence.

Absence due to the funeral of a close family member, medical appointments, music exams and driving tests (up to half a day) will be authorised, provided advance notice is given to the school. Please click here for more information on requesting an absence.

Absences for any other reason (planned absences more than half a day) will only be authorised at the discretion of the Principal. To seek this authorisation, parents should submit a Request of Absence form as soon as possible before the planned absence. The form can be found below.

Please note that a request of absence will only be granted in exceptional circumstances. If an application is declined and a student is then absent due to illness during the period for which the leave of absence was requested, the absence will only be authorised if supported by medical evidence, for example, a doctor’s certificate.  All unauthorised absences of 10 sessions (5 school days) or more will be referred to the Educational Inclusion Partnership; this may result in a fixed penalty notice being issued or prosecution in the magistrate’s court (section 7 of the Education Act).

Any student needing to leave school early e.g. for a medical appointment etc, MUST sign out.

Primary students sign out in Primary reception, Year 7 – 11 students sign out in Main Reception, after their parent/ carer has informed school via the absence line or Edulink.  Year 12 & 13 students can sign out with the Sixth Form Centre Manager, upon presenting a letter from their parents/ carers, a doctor’s appointment card or similar.

If a student becomes ill during the school day, first aid will be sought via the on-call system and if appropriate, permission to leave will be given by the first aider or senior attendance lead. Any students who leave the school site without signing out during the school day (excluding lunchtime 12:40-1:40 Sixth Form only) will be issued with an unauthorised absence.