Attendance and Absence
Please report your child's absence at absences@byfleet.surrey.sch.uk by 9.00 each morning.
It is important to keep the school up to date if your child is absent as the school has a safeguarding responsibility and is required to account for every child, every day.
To check if your child is too ill for school, click here.
Attendance at Byfleet Primary School continues to be above the national and Surrey averages and we intend to continue this success by working closely with our families, where attendance and/or punctuality is a barrier to their learning.
All requests for leave of absence are treated sympathetically, and only in exceptional circumstances will 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.
Penalty notices may also be used by the Local Authority in the following circumstances:
- When a pupil is stopped during school hours by the Truancy Team, and there is a history of unauthorised absence, a warning letter will be sent to the parents informing them that their child's attendance will be monitored for the following 15 school days. If there are further unauthorised absences, a Penalty Notice will be issued.
- Where a parent is failing to ensure their child's regular school attendance, and is failing to engage with any supportive measures proposed by the school or Education Welfare. Before a Penalty Notice is issued, the parent will be sent a formal warning of their liability to receive such a notice.
Please see the Attendance Policy, which can be found under our Policy tab on the 'Our School' section of the website.
FORMS THAT MUST BE COMPLETED PRIOR TO ANY ABSENCE:
1) Leave of Absence for Exceptional Circumstances form
For any absence under exceptional circumstances, the necessary form needs to be completed prior to the child being absent from school. Once the completed form is received by the school, the Head Teacher reviews and signs the form. The signed original is returned to the parent/carer via the child's book bag and a copy is kept in the pupil's file.
2) Authorisation of absence for Medical Appointments - Pupil Absence form:
For any absence due to medical appointment that is made during school time (appointments should be made out of school hours to be best of the parent's /carer's ability) a form must be completed prior to the absence along with the proof of appointment so that this can be kept in the pupils file.
- At Byfleet Primary we send out lost learning letters to parents each half term informing them of the number of minutes of lost learning for their child due to poor punctuality.
- We send weekly letters home with the lost learning for the week and a cumulative total for the year to date where we feel there is a concern.