Attendance

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Children who are frequently late or absent from school are disadvantaged in their learning. It is important that all our families encourage the idea that school matters and they should attend every day and arrive on time. Good attendance is crucial to children’s progress. 

Reporting Absence

If your child is unwell, please telephone the school's absence line in the morning to inform us of the reason for your child's absence. 

A call will be made to you at home if we are not advised of the reason why your child is absent from school. Any unknown reason for not attending school will be recorded and an unauthorised absence.

Appointments and Authorised Absences

Where possible, please arrange appointments outside of school hours, such as the dentist, doctor etc.  However, we do appreciate that it is not always possible to organise hospital appointments outside of school hours.  Please notify the school of the hospital appointment and provide us with a copy of the letter for our records. 

Only the school can authorise an absence and any request for absence should be addressed to Mrs Alexandrou (Deputy Headteacher).  This will then be given due consideration.  This may include religious dates and festivals officially recognised by the parents’ religion and exceptional family circumstances e.g. a bereavement. 

Family holidays should not be taken during term time. Headteachers can only authorise a leave of absence in exceptional circumstances. If a headteacher grants a leave of absence request, they must determine the length of time the child can be away from school.

Persistent Absences and Lateness

At Merryhills, we work with our Education Welfare Officer (EWO), Patrick Lemonius, to ensure parents and carers meet their legal responsibilities for education. They will advise and support the school with effective strategies for promoting attendance and addressing levels of absence. EWOs may work with you in a number of ways, including meeting with you both in school and at your home if we are concerned about a child's attendance. Punctuality is monitored in a similar way to attendance and persistent lateness will be followed up by our Education Welfare Officer.Did you know that if a child is 10 mins late each day, they will have missed over 6 ½ days learning over the school year.

Did you know that if a child is 10 mins late each day, they will have missed over 6 ½ days learning over the school year.