First Federation Trust
Attendance
Parents / Carers are requested to telephone the office on 01626 821316 and leave a message on the absence line (option 1) before 9.05 am if their child is going to be absent/late. The reason for absence must be in full i.e. sickness on Sunday, temperature, severe cold etc. Please do not leave vague messages i.e. unwell, ill or under the weather as the school office will have to call you back for more information.
Office staff check all class registers between 9.05 am and 9.15 am on a daily basis, to identify those pupils who are absent. Where a child is absent from school and we have not received any verbal or written communication from the parent, we initiate the first-day contact procedures. If no message is left with the school office we will telephone in turn each of the contacts on the list provided by the parents, if we are still unable to get confirmation as to why the child is not at school we will process to a welfare check (this is a visit to the home address), this is carried out by the senior staff at Blackpool or the Educational Welfare Officer (EWO), if we are still unable to confirm the child's welfare we will call 101 to report the child as missing. This is the school’s duty of care and safeguarding for your child.
The school gates open at 8.40 am when a member of staff will be on duty.
The class register opens at 8.55 am and closes at 9.05 am. If your child arrives after the register has started at 8.55 am but before it has closed at 9.05 am they will be coded as late (L). If they arrive after 9.05 am they will be coded as arriving after the register has closed (U) which is an unauthorised absence.
The school attendance policy states that the attendance of children who arrive late will be registered as follows:
*A child arriving after the register has started but before the register has closed will be coded as “late” (code L).
*A child arriving after the register has closed will be coded as “Late after registration closed” (code U). This is counted as an “Unauthorised Absence” (see appendix for use of other codes).
*The times from which children will be marked as “late” or “late after registration closed” will be clearly communicated to parents.
We have a 48-hour rule for any sickness/diarrhoea to try to prevent any outbreaks. Please ensure that if your child has suffered from either of these, they remain absent from school for a clear 48 hour period from the last attack.
Absence Due to Sickness
Please report all sickness to the School Office (as requested in the introduction); please do not contact the class teacher or send a message via a sibling.
Please try to make any medical appointments out of school hours, children having to leave class halfway through a lesson not only disrupts their learning but also affects other children in class. If you have to make a medical appointment during school hours please provide evidence to the School Office; thank you.
Should your child reach 10 sessions of unauthorised absence we will arrange a meeting with yourselves and the Education Welfare Officer which may then proceed to a legal meeting.
Opening Hours
School hours are 8:55am until 3:30pm Monday to Friday.