Attendance

Regular attendance at school is vital in supporting a child’s learning and development.

Well-being, academic attainment, career choices, employment prospects, confidence, self-esteem and friendships are all improved with regular school attendance.

Some of the benefits of regular school attendance include:

• A good education will help give children the best possible start to life;

• If a child does not attend school regularly, they will not be able to keep up with the work;

• Employers will want to ensure that the people they wish to employ are reliable;

• Young people who have not attended school regularly have considerably less choice regarding the type of employment they wish to enter;

• Young people who fail to maintain regular attendance at school for no good reason are at higher risk of becoming victims of crime and/or abuse. There is also a higher chance of being drawn into anti-social behaviour.

Absence from School

Medical Absences

If a child is medically unfit for school then parents/carers must report this to the Attendance Administrator on the first day of any period of absence. If parents/carers do not report they will receive a phone call alerting them that their child is not in school and that they need contact to provide a reason for absence. If the absence is still not reported, then the Attendance Administrator will call to obtain a reason as to why they are not in school.

Holidays

Although Guernsey law does not preclude term time holidays, they are not a right. Absence for holiday negatively impacts a child’s attendance at school and, as such, Education Services and the school does not approve of them. It is, therefore, the position of Education Services and therefore the school that holidays in term time will not be authorised.

Other Absences

All non-medical absences must also be reported by parents/carers and recorded accurately by the Attendance Administrator.