Attendance Champion: Julie Cassiano (Headteacher)

Attendance family help: Jess Palmer

Attendance email: admin@vernonterrace.net

Family support email: fsw@vernonterrace.net

Non urgent medical and dental appointments should, wherever possible, be arranged outside of school hours. Where this is not possible, appointments should be scheduled at the beginning or end of the school day to minimise the amount of learning missed. Children are expected to attend school for as much of the school day as possible.

Parents/carers should notify the school in advance of any appointment and provide evidence, such as a text message, email or letter confirmation, so that the absence can be appropriately recorded.

If a child needs to leave school during the school day for an appointment, please contact the school in advance via phone or email.

Vernon Terrace Primary School recognises that children of different faiths may observe religious festivals or holy days that fall outside of school holidays.

Where a religious observance is recognised within the relevant religious calendar, the school will authorise one day of absence per religious festival or observance, up to a maximum of two days per academic year.

For major religious festivals/holy days such as Eid and Diwali, where a significant number of children may be absent, parents will be invited to complete a Google Form in advance to notify the school that their child will be observing the festival. This will enable the school to record and authorise the absence appropriately.

If your child will be observing another religious festival or holy day where fewer children are likely to be absent, please contact the school office in advance to notify us of the date and nature of the observance.

We are committed to respecting and supporting the religious beliefs and practices of all members of our school community.

Lateness to school is not acceptable children are expected to arrive on time. Children who arrive after formal teaching has started will be marked as ‘Late’ on the registers (coded L). Poor punctuality not only disrupts your child’s learning but the learning of others. Good timekeeping leads to good practice in your child’s future.

Please call the school from 8am (no later than 8:30am) to notify us of your child’s absence.

If a child:

• has a social worker or is receiving family support
• is recorded as a persistent absentee
• has an SEMH medical need
• has a history of school avoidance
• parent has not notified us of the absence (safeguarding)

a home visit may be arranged. Some home visits are announced but not all. If your child is not well enough to attend school they should be at home or somewhere we can visit them (i.e a close relative’s home due to parents working). There is no reason we should not be able to visit the child.