Attendance
Education Welfare Service
The School’s Education Welfare Officer visits the school every week during the term and checks the school’s attendance register. If any child is absent from the school on a regular basis, is frequently late, or has a number of unauthorised absences, the Education Welfare Officer may decide that an interview with the parents is necessary. Regular school attendance at school is vital, is expected, and is required by law. Pupils need to attend regularly if they are to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them. Parents of pupils at Mayespark have a legal duty to send their children to school regularly and ensure that they arrive on time. Children who are late will miss important parts of their learning and cause disruption to the rest of the class.
Absences
Only the school can authorise a child’s absence, not parents. Absences, which are not valid, are recorded as unauthorised. Unauthorised absences are reported to parents on the child’s annual report and in some cases a fine will be issued by The London Borough of Redbridge.
Leave During Term Time
The school has a zero tolerance policy towards term time leave in line with the Local Authority, the government and the Governing Body of Mayespark. It is not acceptable to take children out of school for birthdays, family holidays, to visit relatives abroad, family weddings or any other special events during term time and these absences will not be authorised. Fines will be imposed for unauthorised absence and your child could lose their place at Mayespark.
The Headteacher will only consider authorising an absence during term time where an application has been made in advance and where she is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances to justify the request. In these cases no more than 3 days will be granted per school year for any pupil. Term time visits abroad to see relatives will not be authorised under any circumstances.
For a full account of our approach to attendance and punctuality please see the Attendance Policy.