At Altus we recognise the importance of regular school attendance. We regularly celebrate and praise good and improving attendance in school and value the time our children spend with us. Time in school is purposeful with a well planned, ambitious and supportive curriculum.
What to do if you child cannot come to school?
If your child is too unwell, parents / carers must phone their child’s Centre to let the team know. Parents are responsible by law for ensuring that their child/children attend and stay at school.
If you have any questions about reporting your child’s absence please contact us.
Not every illness means your child needs to stay at home, please see below for the NHS guidelines ↓
If a child is absent and no message has been received then a member of staff will phone the parents/ carers to find out why. If the school has concerns about pupils’ attendance, the school will follow these up with you, and provide a range of support where appropriate and possible.
Registers will be marked in school giving the reason for absence e.g. illness or medical appointments.
If a pupil becomes ill at school we must be able to contact home, or another emergency contact. It is important that you keep us up to date with changes in telephone numbers, contacts etc. You can do this by telephoning your child’s centre or by emailing us (admin@altusschool.org.uk)
Should your child become ill during the school day, we will ask you to collect your child if they are too unwell to stay.
Should your child become ill during the school day, we will ask you to collect your child if they are too unwell to stay.
Where you know in advance that your child will be absent from school (e.g. doctors or dental appointment) it would be helpful to let us know before the date in question.
Government regulations, implemented from 1st September 2013, state that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time (e.g. family holidays) unless there are ‘exceptional circumstances’. To request a leave of absence you must complete a Leave of Absence Request Form and send this to school with as much notice as possible. You may either complete the electronic version which will automatically be sent for review or print and complete manually and return to school.
Please contact the school if you have any trouble accessing or completing the form for assistance. The form can be found at the bottom of this page.
Where no notification has been received, or the reason is unjustified, then the absence will be recorded as unauthorised. It is important to note that the regulations state that absences can be authorised only by the school, not by the parents.
Where no notification has been received, or the reason is unjustified, then the absence will be recorded as unauthorised. It is important to note that the regulations state that absences can be authorised only by the school, not by the parents.