Attendance and Holiday Requests

Children should only miss school if they are ill or have authorisation from the Headteacher. At Blue Coat C of E (Aided) Junior School we believe that children must be in school to learn. We tackle absences from school rigorously and work with the local authority to ensure children are always in school so that they can succeed.

Medical Appointments

Where possible, children should attend medical appointments outside of school time or in the school holidays. We understand that sometimes this is not always possible. On these occasions, parents should bring an appointment letter or card to the school office at least one day before a child will be absent from school.

Sickness Absence

If your child is so ill that they must be absent from school, you are asked to telephone the school on 0191 386 5975 before 9am to explain the absence.  If you are unable to contact us on the day of your child’s absence, we will make every attempt to contact you to find out why your child is not in school.

Important Changes in 2015:

The level at which absence from school is deemed to be persistent is changing from 15% absence (85% attendance) to 10% absence (90% attendance from September).

The Government has amended regulations for taking holidays in term time and these new regulations come into effect from September 2015. Head teachers have the discretion to grant leave, but the amendments make clear that any leave of absence requested during term time is not to be granted unless there are exceptional circumstances. If a head teacher grants a leave request, it will be for them to determine the length of time that the child can be away from school. Parents can be fined for taking their child on holiday during term time (holidays that amount to more than 7 days or more of unauthorised absence) without consent from the school. Please contact the school if you wish to discuss this with the Headteacher.

Reminder to Parents:

Due to the legislation introduced in September 2013, we are no longer able to authorise any holidays during term time, except in exceptional circumstances.

If you feel that your request falls into the exceptional circumstances category, please complete the form below and your request will be considered, on an individual basis.