Gamlingay Village Primary School is committed to full attendance by all pupils. There is clear evidence of the link between attendance and achievement. However, we understand there are occasions when your child will be unable to attend.
School begins at 8:45am, and we ask that children arrive in good time so they can enter promptly when the doors open. If a child arrives after 8:45am and the gates are already locked, they will need to enter via the school office and will be marked as ‘Late’. If the child was absent when the register started being taken but arrives before the register is closed, they will be marked with an L code. If the child arrives after the register is closed, they will be marked with a U code.
- If your child is ill, please contact the office to let them know. You can do this by emailing absence@gamlingayvp.org, by phoning the office, or by filling in the absence form on ParentHub before 8.45am. Please note we require you to inform the school about your child’s absence every day that they are not in attendance so that we can code the register correctly. If we do not hear from you and are unable to contact you, we will have to code your child’s absence as unauthorised.
- If your child has an appointment, please ensure you inform the office in advance and send or show them a copy of the appointment letter/text confirmation. If we do not receive a copy of this, we will code the child’s absence as unauthorised.
- If you are planning on taking your child out of school for another reason, please ensure you complete the term time leave of absence form in advance. You can get a copy of this from the office or from our website. Please note that term time holiday cannot be authorised. Our absence procedures are in place in line with DfE guidance. Department for Education guidance is clear that schools are only allowed to authorise any planned term-time absence in extremely exceptional circumstances, for example a single day for a funeral of a close relative or a medical appointment. Term-time holidays do not qualify.
It is the School’s policy to ring parents to ascertain why a child/children are not at school as soon as we are aware of the absence if we have not been informed. Please do speak to your child's Class Teacher or the Headteacher if there are any issues you feel the school should be aware of.
A copy of our Attendance Policy is available here on the CAM Academy Trust website.
Yes. Parents have a legal duty to make sure that their child aged 5-16, if registered at a school, attends that school regularly. If taking an unauthorised term time holiday is grounds for issuing a penalty notice according to the local authority’s code, and if the leave of absence for holiday was not authorised by the school, either the school or the local authority may issue a penalty notice.
No. Only local authorities can make decisions on whether parents should be prosecuted for school attendance offences. All schools (including academies) have a duty to refer regular absence (authorised and unauthorised) to the relevant local authority. This may include any evidence to show how they supported the pupil and parent to improve attendance. It is for each local authority to judge each referral on its own merits and make a decision on the next probable cause of action
The Cam Academy Trust employs an Education Welfare Officer, Rachael Panther. The school and EWO always try to work with pupils and parents at an early stage to resolve problems. This is nearly always successful. However, the EWO also has a legal role and if other ways of resolving attendance have failed, these officers can use legal sanctions such as Penalty Notices or prosecutions in the Magistrates court. Rachael Panther can be contacted via the school office.
96% attendance is:
95% attendance is:
90% attendance is:
Our target is for all Gamlingay Village Primary pupils to have an attendance rate of 97% or above.
Gamlingay Village Primary
Station Road, Gamlingay,
Sandy, Bedfordshire
SG19 3HD
Tel: 01767 650208
Email: office@gamlingayvp.org
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