The proper place for you to be on a school day is AT SCHOOL. If you are not at school, you must have a justifiable reason, and your parents should telephone the school before 8.50 am on the first day that you are absent.
Parents are asked not to arrange family holidays during term time. Where this is absolutely unavoidable, requests for leave of absence should be made well in advance of the date. Such requests cannot automatically be approved, if they clash with important School events. for more information please see our policy on
Signing Out
It is best to take medical and dental appointments outside of school hours. However, if you must leave school during the day for any reason, please bring a note from your parents. You must sign out at the Pupil Services office. If you return later on the same day, you must sign back in again.
Before signing out you need to gain permission from your Head of Year.
We must know where you are in case of an emergency.
Punctuality and Attendance
Punctuality is an important part of SELF-DISCIPLINE and is essential to good TIME MANAGEMENT.
Always make sure that you are in the appropriate classroom at the right time.
If you arrive at School between 8.45 and 9.00am, please report to your Form Tutor. You will be marked late in the register.
If you arrive at School after 9.00am, you must sign in at Pupil Services office. You will be marked late in the register, and you will need a note to explain your late arrival.
Illness and Accidents
If you feel unwell or have an accident, you must tell a teacher straight away. If necessary, a First Aider will then look after you. If you are too ill to remain in school or if hospital treatment is necessary your parents will be contacted.
It is therefore, essential that you inform the school if any of your contact details (addresses, telephone numbers) change – we may need them in an emergency.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU LEAVE THE SCHOOL OR GO HOME WITHOUT PERMISSION
School Policy on Authorising Absence for Family Holidays
For pupils in Years 10 and above, absence from school can damage examination chances: important parts of the syllabus and/or coursework can be missed, and these can be very difficult to catch up on. Under the law, parents may request absence from school for a family holiday. If the school agrees, the absence is recorded as authorised. If not, it is recorded as unauthorised. Schools may not authorise more than 10 days’ absence in any school year, save in exceptional circumstances. ‘10 days’ are not an automatic entitlement; they can be authorised at the school’s discretion. All cases are different, and it is difficult to set rigid rules in this area. However, the school will adopt the following policy when deciding on whether to authorise absence for family holidays:
For pupils in Years 10 and above, or for Year 9 pupils as they approach their Key Stage 3 Tests (SATs), we cannot authorise a holiday request. Holidays taken at these times will count as unauthorised.
For other pupils, we may authorise requests for pupils whose overall attendance rate during the year is 90% or more. If a pupil’s attendance rate is worse than this, however, we cannot authorise the absence.
We will always judge individual cases on their merits, and reserve the right to depart from this policy in rare cases, at our discretion. However, a convincing case must be put forward when the request is submitted. Requests for leave of absence should be made in writing to the Headteacher at the London Road site. In the Sixth Form, the legal position is different, since the students are coming to school by choice. However, we are always very disappointed when family holidays are arranged during term-time. These can (and often do) have an effect on grades at the end the course; in turn, this can mean that students fail to get in to their preferred university, which can significantly alter the course of their lives.
