We expect parents to email or phone the school office before 8.30am if their child is unable to attend school, if parents do not phone then a member of the office team will phone to find out where they are. We have a safeguarding obligation to know where your children are if they are not in school, if we are concerned, and have not been able to contact a parent, the school may phone the police to do a welfare visit.  

It is really important that children attend school every day that they can. Teachers plan activities that build on learning from day to day during the week and from week to week. Missing even one day unnecessarily can have an impact on children's learning. Persistent absence can also impact on children's wellbeing as friendships are harder to maintain and children can be left feeling isolated. Government research states that children need to attend 95% of the school year in order to make expected progress, that is just 10 days absence across the whole academic year. 

We understand that children get ill, and they absolutely should not attend school if they are not well enough, however the Government expectation of 95% or over attendance takes in to account the usual amount of childhood illness. Children who have been sick or had diarrhoea need to be off school for 48 hours after the last incident, this is to avoid further transmission. 

As attendance is such a high priority all schools are obliged to track every child's attendance half termly and inform parents if their child's attendance has dropped below the expected level and look at ways to work together to improve the situation. 

At Newtown no term time absence will be authorised and we would request that parents arrange family holidays and events during the 14 weeks that the children are not in school. However we understand that sometimes that is not possible, if you are know your child is not going to be in school please fill in the notification of absence form below and return it to the school office.