Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure that their children arrive at school punctually and attend regularly. Classroom doors are opened to the children at 8.35am.The children then carry out the tasks set out for them that morning.  Children must be in class no later than 8.45am for registration and they will be marked late if arriving after this time. If your child is late (after 8.45am) a responsible adult must report with them to the school office where you will be required to sign your child in.

Regular and habitual lateness for school is not acceptable because it:

· Disrupts the whole class after they have started the day

· Indicates to others that lateness is acceptable

· Affects educational progress

· Affects registration and school meals arrangements

Children remain on school premises between the hours of 8.45am and 3.15pm unless a written request from a parent, with parental responsibility is received by the school office or class  teacher. Parents sign a form in the admission pack giving consent for off site events and activities and are then given due notice of events and activities by email or letter. Telephone requests altering arrangements for the end of the day will only be conveyed to children following  confirmation of the child’s date of birth and postcode, unless the caller’s voice is  recognised.

At the end of the school day, children will be released into the care of a responsible adult unless written permission is given by a parent detailing alternative arrangements. Parents’ co-operation is requested to safeguard all the children.

The school day starts at 8.45 am and ends at 3.15pm - this means our school is open for 32.5 hours in a typical week.

If your child is unable to come to school due to illness please inform the office of the reason by 9am in person or by telephone. We take child safety really seriously and do everything possible to account for every child each day. The reason for absence must be in full i.e sickness on Sunday, temperature, severe cold etc. Please do not leave vague messages as the school office will need to call you back for more information.

When a child is absent from school and we have not received any verbal or written communication from the parent, we will 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 in school we will proceed to a welfare check (this is a visit to the home address). This is normally carried out by the senior staff from the school or the Educational Welfare officer. 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.

Notes following periods of absence due to sickness should be sent to the Class Teacher on    return. Medical evidence will be requested in the event of frequent absence or any absence longer than 5 days. Surgery staff will stamp Doctors’ and Dentists’ appointment cards and hospitals will send out appointment letters that can be brought to school and copied for the attendance file. Levels of attendance, along with types and patterns of absence, are closely monitored by office staff with the support of the local authorities Education Welfare Officer. Regular absence from school is automatically referred to the Education Welfare Officer and  further action may be taken, by Plymouth City Council.

Requests for absence during term time should be submitted on the relevant form available from the school office.  Government guidelines introduced in September 2013 prevent all schools from authorizing absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

All other correspondence should be addressed to the Head Teacher.