Make Every Day Count!

At Hurst Green Infant School and Nursery we expect the very best of our children and celebrate those who work hard and understand the importance of punctuality and attendance.  Good attendance is considered a high priority.

It is the responsibility and legal duty of parents/carers to ensure that their child attends school.  We seek a partnership with parents to encourage good attendance and punctuality.

Legal responsibilities

• Parents have a legal duty to ensure that their child attends regularly and punctually.
• The Local Authority has a legal duty to ensure that parents carry out this responsibility.The school has a legal duty to record absence of registered pupils in compliance with the regulations.

Absence from school

If your child is absent from school, parents/carers are requested to phone the school office on the first day of absence and, if the absence is for more than one day, please maintain contact with school daily.

Parents are required to inform the school of all absence by personal contact, letter, e-mail or telephone. Notification of the nature of the illness and the expected length of absence is also requested.  

A text will be sent to the parent/carer on the first day of each non-attendance if no contact has already been received, requesting that they contact the office to provide the reason for absence. If no contact is made, the school will then phone the contacts for the child in order of priority.

If an explanation for absence is unsatisfactory, parents will be contacted to discuss any difficulties with school attendance.

For medical or other appointments during the school day, notification is required in advance.  Routine appointments/check-ups should be made out of school hours wherever possible.

Holidays during term time

No holidays will be authorised during term time.  The school holiday dates are published a year in advance and parents/carers should take their family holidays during these times. Term dates for Surrey schools are also available from the Surrey County Council website www.surreycc.gov.uk .

If there is a situation where a child will be absent during term time, you must submit an absence request form available from the office or by clicking on the link below explaining the reason for absence. You will be notified of the result of the request. National Tests are administered during the summer term – requests for absence during this period must be avoided.

Please be aware that The Education (Pupil Registration)(England) (Amendment)  Regulations 2013, which became law on 1^st September 2013 state that Head Teachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. The Head Teacher should determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if leave is granted.  In accordance with the above regulations, requests for leave of absence are treated sympathetically, but only in exceptional circumstances can they be approved.  The policy of Surrey County Council to which this school has agreed, states that parents who take their child out of school for five days or more during term time, without the authority of the Head Teacher, will each be liable to receive a penalty notice. Penalty Notices will be issued by the Local Authority.  The penalty is £60 per child per parent if paid within 21 days of receipt of the notice, rising to £120 if paid after 21 days but within 28 days of receipt of the notice. If the penalty is not paid in full by the end of the 28-day period the Local Authority must prosecute the recipient for failing to ensure regular school attendance under section 444 Education Act 1996.

The role of the Inclusion Officer

The Inclusion Service is part of the Local Education Authority which has responsibility for promoting, encouraging and enforcing regular school attendance. The Inclusion Officer regularly visits the school to look at attendance, patterns of absence (e.g. Fridays) and lateness. Children whose attendance is less than 90% will be referred, depending on circumstances, as well as any families that are causing serious concern to the school.   This may lead to a School Attendance Agreement being required, which the parent/carers, Head Teacher and IO all sign.   Registers are monitored by the EWO (Education Welfare Officer) at least half-termly.

If there are any issues regarding attendance it is vital that parents contact the school as soon as possible so that we can support both you and your child. We have a range of options available so please do not hesitate to get in touch. Unfortunately, if very poor attendance is not addressed it could result in a heavy fine or even court proceedings. Please see our attendance policy, available on our website.
Improved attendance is also rewarded along with 100% attendance. So it is never too late to turn things around.  All children benefit from regular attendance.

Attendance Monitoring

If a child does not attend school regularly, the impact on their progress cannot be underestimated. At Hurst Green Infant School and Nursery we keep track of the attendance of all our students. We have regular conversations with parents to support any attendance issues.

Late Arrival at School

The school day starts at 9.00 am and we expect children to be in school by this time.  Essential learning is missed when children arrive late. 

If your child arrives at school 5 minutes late every day, over the school year they will have missed a total of 3 days of school!

Incentives for Good Attendance at Hurst Green

Each week the class with the fewest number of absences will be celebrated in the Head Teacher Award assembly.

Each half term, the class with the highest attendance will be awarded the ‘Attendance Cup’ to keep in their classroom. Individual pupils are rewarded for 100% attendance at the end of each term with an Attendance Certificate. At the end of each year Certificates are awarded for 100% yearly attendance.

Here at Hurst Green Infant School and Nursery we are committed to providing an excellent education for all our children.  This is best done in partnership with parents and we ask for your support in ensuring the regular and punctual attendance of your children. Thank you.