Attendance

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Please be reminded that school attendance is mandatory. It is vital that children are in school, for their educational progress, for their wellbeing, and for their wider development. We continue to work closely with parents to help us to achieve this.

At Our Lady of Lourdes School we work hard to:

• Ensure every pupil has access to the full-time education to which they are entitled
• Promote good attendance and reduce absence, including persistent absence
• Act early to address patterns of absence
• Support parents to perform their legal duty to ensure their children of compulsory school age attend regularly, and will promote and support punctuality in attending lessons.
• Please ensure that any holidays are booked during the school holiday period. Holidays during term time will not be authorised.

Exceptional Leave of Absence

Parents/carers must ask permission, where the situation is exceptional or urgent, for their child to be absent during term time. Headteachers are only empowered to approve a leave of absence when it is requested in advance by the parent or carer with whom the child resides and when the circumstances of the requested leave are ‘exceptional’.   If no application is made or leave is taken without permission  and there are no exceptional circumstances, a term time holiday is contrary to  s.444(1) of the Education Act 1996 and a Fixed Penalty Notice can be issued accordingly. Parents wishing to apply for their child to have leave from school should complete a form from the office and return it to school for authorisation.

Absence Due to Illness

Parents are asked to please telephone school 0208 346 1681 and select option 1, or alternatively you can email office@olol.barnetmail.net as soon as possible to inform us when a child is absent from school due to ill health. If we have not heard from you by 9am, you will be contacted by the school to check why your child is not in school. 

Although we appreciate that children can be poorly, if your child’s attendance falls below 90% we are required to ask parents/carers for medical evidence to authorise absences due to illness.

Children should be collected at 3pm.

If your normal collection arrangements fail, please telephone to let us know before the end of the school day.

Who is there to support?

We recognise the need to tackle any issues surrounding attendance and punctuality. We have regular attendance meetings and work closely with the Barnet Educational Welfare Officer to support families with low attendance and lateness. Low attendance impacts significantly on children’s wellbeing and progress.