Attendance and Punctuality

The Early Years Foundation Stage is a statutory requirement for all early education and childcare providers and we must emphasise the importance of regular attendance and punctuality.  This is very important for children’s learning and development in the early years and also serves to establish ‘good habits’ for later compulsory schooling.  We ask that parents inform us if children are absent for any reason and we monitor our registers accordingly.  If a valid reason is given and accepted, the absence counts as authorised.  Children need to come to school on time.  Much focused teaching takes place in the first half hour of each session and children miss out if they are late.  We also need to be informed in advance if a child needs to be collected early.

Holidays in term time

We realise that parents occasionally need to take holidays in term time.  We do not encourage this but if it cannot be avoided parents should complete a holiday form and return it to the school office.

Infectious diseases

Children with infectious diseases must stay away for the statutory period, as recommended by your doctor.  You must inform the school if they have chicken pox, mumps or measles as we need to inform other parents who need to avoid these potentially dangerous infections.

Health Protection Agency advice is that children should not be bought to school for 48 hours after sickness or diarrhoea.

Coughs and colds

It is normal for children starting a new nursery or school to catch many colds and coughs as their immunity develops.  You know your child best, but we ask that you only keep them away if they are feeling unwell or have a temperature and you believe that they would be unable to benefit from the learning opportunities on offer.