Standing Items

Reporting Students Absence

Student absence can be reported to the school in any of the 3 methods below.

Please state pupil Full Name, Tutor Group, and Reason for the Absence.

1. Online using the absence report form - Years 7 to 11 and Post 16

2. By email using absence@cotham.bristol.sch.uk for Years 7 to 11 students and p16absence@cotham.bristol.sch.uk for Post 16 students.

3. By calling the school on 0117 919 8000. Please press 1 to report an absence and then press 1 for Years 7-11 or press 2 for Post 16

Please inform the school by 9am on the first and subsequent days of absence. 

School procedure is as follows: 

• absence message if  absences have not been reported. 

• If no response to the absence message, a follow up letter requesting reason for absence will be sent.

Guidance on Unauthorised Absence from School

Follow the link for the information leaflet produced by Bristol City Council, it gives advice about term time absence and the consequences of unauthorised absence from school. 

Contagious Infections

Please can all parents notify school if they have chickenpox, shingles or measles in the household. We have students and staff with compromised immunity and have been advised to notify them if these infections are present in the school community.

Stomach Bugs - 48 Hour Rule

Diarrhoea and/or vomiting commonly affects children and staff and can be caused by a number of different germs, including viruses, parasites and bacteria. Infections can be easily spread from person to person (by unwashed hands), especially in children. 

General guidance recommends that any child or staff member with diarrhoea and/or vomiting symptoms must stay away from the school until they have been free of symptoms for 48 hours and in addition feel well enough to return to school (this is known as the ‘48 hour rule’). Personal hygiene whilst unwell with these symptoms must be adhered to very strictly.

If your child is sick at school, we will ask you or your emergency contact to take your child home. Your child should not return for 48 hours. We appreciate that this can cause inconvenience and you may not consider that your child remains infectious for this period of time, but it is highly likely that they are.  We have a responsibility to reduce the risk of infection for the whole school community.  

As an example, if your child is sick at lunchtime on a Tuesday, they should not return to school until after lunch on Thursday, and they should only return if there have been no further episodes of vomiting and/or diarrhoea and they feel well enough to do so.  Thank you for your understanding and supporting us with this.  Further guidance on infection control may be found on the Public Health England Website.