Orchard Park Community Primary School

Reporting Absences

If your child is unwell or absent for any unavoidable reason, please contact the School Office by 9:30am on the day of the absence. You can do this by phone, selecting 'Option 1', by email, or in person.

For absences lasting more than one day, we ask that parents update the school every day to keep us informed of your child’s progress and expected return.

If no reason is provided for an absence, it will be recorded as unauthorised, which will impact your child’s overall attendance record.

If your child needs to attend any medical or dental appointments we kindly ask that these are made out of school hours, or ideally after 3pm. On rare and unavoidable occasions these appointments are scheduled during the school day and your child will arrive late, please inform the class teacher or School Office in advance, including whether a school meal is required.

Children must be signed out at the School Office when leaving and signed back in upon return. For safety reasons, children are not permitted to leave the premises unaccompanied during the school day.

---

Term Time Leave of Absence

Regular attendance is crucial to your child’s learning and long-term success. Evidence shows a clear link between strong attendance and high achievement.

In line with government regulations (The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013), holidays during term time cannot be authorised. Headteachers are only permitted to grant leave in exceptional circumstances, which must be unexpected and unavoidable.

If you believe your situation qualifies as exceptional, please complete a Term Time Leave of Absence form, available below.

In line with Department for Education guidance, requests for term-time leave must be submitted in advance. Any requests made retrospectively will not be authorised under any circumstances. Parents and carers are responsible for ensuring that the correct process is followed when applying for leave during term time. 

For full details, please visit our Policy Page.

 

Once submitted your request will be carefully considered, and if it meets the criteria for exceptional circumstances, the absence will be authorised. If we are unable to approve the request, you will be informed of the reasons for the decision.

Please be aware that all absences authorised or unauthorised are recorded and monitored in line with our attendance policy.

Under current regulations, headteachers are not permitted to authorise leave for family holidays taken during term time.