Section 30 of the 1980 Education Act lays a duty on every parent of a child of ‘school age’ to ensure that their child attends school regularly. Attendance must be recorded twice a day, morning and afternoon.  We would like to remind parents that we ask you to phone in between 9 and 9.15 a.m. if possible on the first day of an absence.  This is to ensure that both parents and school always know whether a child is supposed to be at home or in school on any particular day.  We know that not all parents have a phone, but if you can get a message to the school right away it will help our safety procedures.  Where children are recorded as being absent and we have not received a phone call, a text message will be sent out to parents alerting them of the absence.

Holidays taken during the school session will be categorised as unauthorised absence. However, head teachers do have discretion in authorising a family holiday during term time. Parents should inform the school by letter, before going on holiday, of the dates. Such absence will be recorded as unauthorised absence in keeping with advice from the Scottish Executive Education Department. The head teacher can authorise absence from school for a family holiday in certain extreme circumstances, for example, traumatic domestic circumstances where the holiday would contribute to the cohesion and wellbeing of the family. Such requests should be discussed with the head teacher prior to the holiday. If the permission is not sought prior to holiday, the holiday will be recorded as unauthorised absence.

The head teacher can also exercise discretion when a parent can prove that work commitments make a family holiday impossible during school holiday times. Normally, proof of such difficulties would be evidenced by an employer. Again, such absences would be regarded as authorised. Clearly, with no explanation from the parent, the absence is unauthorised.

When requests are made for children to leave school for dental appointments etc., other than at normal times, they MUST be collected by an adult. We cannot allow young children to leave school on their own when.

Absence rates are calculated as a percentage of the total number of possible attendances for all pupils of the school in the stage shown, each morning and afternoon of each school day being a separate possible attendance. In Fordbank Primary, we regularly monitor attendance data and where there is a concern, parents will be contacted and offered support as appropriate.