Absences

If your child is not in, please notify the office by telephone or in person on the first day of absence. The absence should then be confirmed by letter on the day your child returns to school, detailing the exact nature of the illness. This will be recorded as an "authorised absence". Holidays taken in term time cannot be authorised. A record of all unauthorised absences is included in the end of year report and also published in the school prospectus. The Education Welfare Officer visits the school regularly to monitor attendance and to follow up any persistent or regular absences (below 90%).

Registration

All children should be in school by 8:45am, except for Nursery children who start at 8:30am. Children arriving after this time should report to the office where they will be registered as late. We encourage the children to be on time as the first part of the morning is when we get the children settled and introduce the work and is therefore an extremely important time in the school day.

Attendance

For children to gain the greatest benefit from education and to set good practices for their future working life it is vital that they attend school regularly and punctually.

Absences, however short, can have a detrimental effect on children’s learning and late arrivals can be disruptive and affect the learning of others in the class.

At Bishop Ridley, we expect all children to be at school, and on time, every day that the school is open, as long as they are fit and healthy enough to do so.

The responsibility for this rests with a child’s parents (or any carers with parental responsibility).

Poor Attendance

The Government has stated that if a child’s attendance figure goes below 85% they are classed as persistently absent. This equals to 30 school days, so please help your child by ensuring they are in school unless there is a valid reason for their absence.