Attendance

Reporting Child Absence

The easiest and quickest way to report your child’s absence is via the ClassCharts parent app. Click on child’s name and select ‘report absence’ - this would be the preferred option.
Please note: you will need to contact the school via ClassCharts each day of your child’s absence. 

Below are alternate ways that you can also report a child absence: 

• Send a text message to 01208 455002 (please note this number does not accept phone calls) 
• Email sc8504191a@schoolcomms.com (only to be used for absence reporting and only if we have your email address registered on our system) Email attendance@crestwood.hants.sch.uk

Attendance Diamond

Leave of Absence

The current law does not give any entitlement to parents to take their child on holiday during term time. Any application for leave must be in exceptional circumstances and the Head Teacher must be satisfied that the circumstances warrant the granting of leave.

Parents/Carers wishing to apply for leave of absence must apply in writing on the Leave of Absence form that can be obtained below or from the main school office. It must be in advance and before making any travel arrangements.

It is important to remind you that 1 week (5 days) of absence from school for a holiday taken during term time is recorded as an unauthorised absence and therefore from 1st September 2015 such absence will trigger the issuing of a fixed penalty notice by the local authority.

The Leave of Absence form states that the form serves as a Penalty Notice Warning letter to parents/carers.

Request for Leave of Absence for an Appointment during the school day
 
Medical, Dental, Optician and Other Appointments

• Wherever possible please make all medical appointments outside of school hours.
• If an appointment is made during the school day, your child should come to school first and return after their appointment, if appointment times allow
• We cannot let a child leave school for an appointment unless we have consent from a parent prior to them leaving
• Please ensure we have any evidence of any appointments i.e. an appointment card or letter, where possible

Please request time off for an appointment, at least 48 hours in advance, by filling out the appropriate form and returning it to school via either reception, or your child’s tutor. This form can be found below or collected from either reception but must be printed, filled in and returned to school, not emailed. We will not accept forms with a typed signature.

We know that there will be times when an appointment is made last minute and we appreciate that this sometimes cannot be avoided. If this does occur, please email our Attendance Officer on the email address below and let her know.

If you have any queries about attendance or time off for appointments, please contact our Attendance Officer, Sarah Caplen, by emailing attendance@crestwood.hants.sch.uk

Punctuality / Lateness

It is important to be on time at the start of the morning and afternoon school sessions and to lessons.  The start of school is used to give out instructions or organise work. If your child is late they can miss work, time with their class teacher getting vital information, cause disruption to the lesson for others, and can be embarrassing leading to possible further absence. Such a reason will not include things such as missing the bus, clothes in the washing machine or lost shoes

REGISTRATION STARTS PROMPTLY AT 08:30am EVERY DAY

If your child arrives during this period they will receive a “Late before registration closes”.
Students who arrive after the register closes at 9:00 will be marked with an unauthorised absence code ‘U’ in line with county and Department for Education (DfE) guidance. This mark shows them to be on site, but is legally recorded as an absence for the whole session. This absence will be unauthorised unless the school is satisfied that there is a legitimate reason for the student to be late.
The following expectations apply to all students:

All lateness is recorded daily. This information will be required by the courts, should a prosecution for non- attendance or lateness be necessary.

• School starts at 08:30am and students should be here promptly to attend registration. Students are expected to be in school five minutes prior to this start time.
• As soon as the bell goes for the start of the day at 8.30am, any student arriving after this time must come through the reception and register themselves on the InVentry signing in system. We ask that the student provides an explanation for their lateness.
• If a student arrives after 8.30am with a genuine reason, this will be taken into consideration. Each student is treated on an individual basis.
• A text message will be sent to you during the course of the morning to inform you that your child was late to school.

For health and safety reasons it is important that the school knows who is in the building. Students arriving late should therefore report to the main school office. It is important that all students arriving late follow this procedure.

For the same reason it is important that parents of students leaving the premises legitimately (eg: for a medical appointment), or returning to school later in the day inform the main school office. The school office will record that the child has left the school site and will mark them back in when they return.

Students who are consistently late are disrupting not only their own education but also that of the other students. On-going and repeated lateness is considered as unauthorised absence and will be subject to legal action.

Late Sanctions

• Daily Late – Text Message sent to inform parents. Tutors to pick students up and allocate relevant DT – either lunch time, break or after school.
• 3 Lates in a week – 1 hour school detention
• 10 or more unauthorised Lates – Further action leading to Penalty Notice Warning Letter

Penalty Notices

Where a child has unauthorised absence the school must enforce Hampshire’s Code of Conduct for issuing Penalty Notices or follow its guidance on other Legal Measures for Non-Attendance. The Code of Conduct is a statutory document that ensures that powers for legal sanctions are applied consistently and fairly across all schools and their families with the authority.