Attendance - Pupil
We strongly believe that a key component to children achieving success is regular attendance. Every child has the right to education and to be able to take advantage of all the learning experiences they will be offered at school.
To put this in context, 90% attendance equates to 19.5 days (almost 4 weeks) absence from school in one year. If continued throughout a child’s primary school education, he / she will miss nearly two and a half-terms (7 months) of school in a seven-year period. An absence of this magnitude will have a significant impact on the child’s education.
We further believe that by setting high expectations for pupils' attendance at primary school we are helping to instil a mind-set that will benefit children throughout their academic career and later life.
In August 2024 the Department of Education (DfE) introduced new statutory guidance, Working Together to Improve School Attendance, that all schools are required to follow. This includes a new framework for penalty notices. Our school’s local attendance policy reflects this guidance and can be found below.
Absence due to illness:
If your child is too unwell to come in to school please contact us before 9.30am on the first day of your child’s absence to explain the reason.
Contact must be made via the school absence line (01895 590087 option 2) or via email at attendance@hillingdonprimaryschool.org.uk.
If your child is unwell and you are not sure whether they should come into school, please refer to the NHS guidance on this matter. Mrs Childs, our welfare and attendance officer, can also be contacted on the number above if you need further advice.
Religious Observance
Hillingdon Primary School strongly believes that all cultures and religions form part of our school community and should be respected. We therefore have a Religious Observance form which should be completed if you would like to request exceptional leave for your child(ren) in order for them to participate in religious observance days. Please see a link to the form below:
Please note that pupils will only be authorised one day for each religious observance and parents will need to complete a form for each child in their family.
Other absence
We would like to remind parents that holidays should not be booked during term time. Pupils should not be taken out of school during term time unless it is unavoidable.
Schools are required to consider requests for leave of absence in term time and should only approve the leave if there are exceptional circumstances. The statutory guidance does not allow holidays in term time to be authorised.
In line with our school’s attendance policy, an exceptional leave form must be completed, providing as much detail and supporting evidence as possible, and given to the school with a minimum of 5 school-days notice. Where a period of absence is authorised in exceptional circumstances, the number of days will be determined by the Co-Principals. For this reason, it is strongly recommended that permission for leave is obtained before travel or accommodation are booked.
Please be aware that unless there are exceptional circumstances, any application for leave is unlikely to be authorised.