Parents are responsible for ensuring their children receive a full-time education.  

Absence disrupts the education of the individual pupil and the whole class. Are you aware that children who do not attend regularly: 

• do not achieve well in exams 

• find it difficult to maintain friendships 

• are more likely to become involved in crime 

• miss out on opportunities in further education and the world of work? 
   

90% attendance = ½ day missed every week! Over one school year this is 4 weeks of learning lost! Over 5 years at your primary school you will have missed half a year! 

As a parent or carer, you have an important role in making school attendance a priority. Only keep your child off school when they are genuinely too ill to attend. Book medical appointments and holidays outside of school time whenever possible. Please talk to us if you're having difficulties with attendance.  

We recognise that children with long-term medical conditions, serious mental health challenges, or special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) may encounter additional obstacles. For those experiencing complex barriers to attendance, we are keen to engage in compassionate discussions with both children and their families, collaborating to provide tailored support that meets their specific needs.  

We encourage parents to inform the school of any absences and to ensure their child attends school regularly. Your partnership is vital in fostering a positive educational experience. 

• Absence can only be authorised by the school. We treat all absences as unauthorised unless satisfactory evidence for your child’s absence has been received. Usually contact from the parent will be accepted as evidence. However, if your child’s attendance continues to cause concern, you may be asked to provide medical evidence where absences occur repeatedly due to reported illness. This might be in the form of an appointment card, prescriptions etc. Your child’s absence may be coded as unauthorised without evidence.   

• Wherever possible, please make all medical and dental appointments outside of the school day. If this cannot happen, please make sure your child is in school for the rest of that day. Appointment cards should always be provided as evidence of medical/dental appointments. 

• Unless parents have provided a satisfactory explanation and it has been accepted by the school absence will not be authorised. 
   

Examples of unsatisfactory explanations include: 

• A child’s/family member’s birthday. 

• Shopping for uniform. 

• Having their hair cut. 

• Closure of a sibling’s school for INSET or other purposes. 

• Parents or a sibling are unwell 

• Illness where the child is considered well enough to attend school without medical authority and in the absence of a communicable disease. 

• Leave during term time taken without authorisation of the school 

• Head lice – let the school know and letters will then be sent to all parents in a confidential manner. 

In the unlikely event that you need to withdraw your child from learning for exceptional circumstances please complete this form and present it to the school office.

Need Support? 

If you have any concerns about your child's attendance, please reach out to our Attendance Officer Jade Boyce on 01424 842297 extension 202 or jboyce@littlecommon.org 

If attendance drops we will send home a letter to alert you. Please come in and talk to us if you are having difficulties - we want to support you. If attendance does not improve you will be invited in for a meeting to discuss this. We always want to help and explore all options but can only do this when we fully understand a family’s situation. We do take a consistent approach to attendance and make no apologies for this because ultimately we want the very best for your child. Once attendance drops below 90% we do need medical evidence before we can authorise an absence.