It is essential that children and young people form good habits of regular attendance at school from and early age and that good attendance is maintained throughout their school career.  Henbury View First School is committed to working together to ensure that there is a consistent approach to school attendance.  It is a legal requirement that all children should attend their educational provision, and it is the parents/carers responsibility to ensure that children attend school. 

Henbury View First School has agreed the following:

• It is important that pupils are at school on time.  Time keeping is not only important in obtaining maximum benefit from education, it is also a key skill for adult life.  Lateness is monitored by the school and contributes to absence rates.
• As a school, we will monitor the attendance of our pupils and work closely with Dorset County Council's School Attendance Service to support children and young people whose attendance levels are causing concern.
• Whilst we understand that children do become ill on occasions, children who lose a lot of time at school can suffer in the long term from significant gaps in their learning.  If a child's health continues to affect their education, schools are obliged to make a referral to School Health to ensure that the appropriate medical advice and support is provided.
• If a child is ill, it is responsibility of the parent/carer to ensure that they inform the school.  We operate a "First Day Call" system, which means we will contact you to ask why your child is not in school and when they expect to return.
• No leave of absence will be granted during term time, except in exceptional circumstances.

If parents/carers should wish to take their child out of school for any leave of absence, holidays or otherwise, requests will not be routinely granted.  It is essential that any requests for leave of absence are made in writing to the Headteacher.  A leave of absence request must be submitted along with a covering letter.

Please see our Attendance Policy below :-