Attendance, Appointments and Absence

Western Primary_copyright (56)

Our school aims to meet its obligations with regards to school attendance by:

Promoting good attendance and reducing absence, including persistent absence
Ensuring every pupil has access to full-time education to which they are entitled
Acting early to address patterns of absence

In line with our school vision, we will also support parents to perform their legal duty to ensure their children of compulsory school age, have and maintain, high attendance rates (95%+) and will promote and support punctuality in attending lessons.

D60EC4B1-6580-49E1-8889-D17146FDA8CC

Reporting a child’s absence

If your child is unwell and will be absent from school, please inform the office by 9.15am either by popping in or phoning the school and selecting option 1 to leave a message.

Please could we remind all parents/carers that if your child suffers from sickness or diarrhoea, they must be kept off school for 48 hours from the time of their last episode of sickness/diarrhoea. This timescale has been set by North Yorkshire County Council to help prevent the spread to other children in school.

Appointments – Medical and music/dance exams

If your child needs a medical appointment, we would appreciate it if you could try to arrange for a time outside of school hours. However, we understand that this is sometimes unavoidable. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that legally, if your child’s appointment is mid- session, they must be brought for registration first and then signed out for the appointment. If you need to take your child out of school, please complete a Pupil Leave of Absence for Appointment form

Leave Requests in Exceptional Circumstances

Taking children out of school is not recommended. However, if there are exceptional circumstances, you need to apply for your child to be absent from school during term time. Please complete the appropriate form, giving as much notice as possible and preferably at least 6 weeks. Please note that there are strict guidelines that are detailed on the back of the form.

Forms for download can be found here

Is my child too ill for school?

The Covid-19 pandemic throughout 2020 – 2022, required us to think very differently about how a child’s or our own illness may impact on others. For many months, we were told that children and adults must not attend schools or visit other public spaces if they had specific symptoms.

Thankfully, those days are behind is but there remains a legacy from that period which can impact on a child’s attendance and, in turn, on their social and academic development.

Many parents and carers face a dilemma when considering whether their child is well enough to attend school. As a general rule, where minor infections are concerned, if your child feels otherwise well, does not have a high temperature and wants to attend school, then please do send them in.

However, there are other conditions such as a cold sore, headlice or impetigo where parents and carers may not be sure what the requirement is.

To help parents and carers to navigate what can sometimes be a difficult decision-making process, where illness is concerned, the NHS have created a guide which you will find here. Please note that this site is due for review and that some of the advice around Covid-19 is out of date. Pupils can attend school with symptoms of Covid-19 as long as they feel well enough and don’t have a high temperature.*

* according to the NHS, a high temperature for children in 38° centigrade or above. Further information can be found here.

Red Kite Learning Trust

Primary Schools

Junior Schools

All-through Schools

Secondary Schools

Attendance, Appointments and Absence

Reporting a child’s absence

Appointments – Medical and music/dance exams

Leave Requests in Exceptional Circumstances

Is my child too ill for school?

Western Primary School

About Red Kite Learning Trust

Quick links