Lateness:

We are sorry to see more children arriving late at school. The school gate opens at 8.40 am and this is the best time to come to school. Arriving at school on time is very important. Learning starts at 8.55 am. Children who arrive late, often find it difficult to settle into the class, so they lose even more learning time. 

Registration will be taken at 8.55 am (Children will be late after 8.55)

Any child arriving late, must arrive through the school office.  At the office the staff will order your child’s hot school meal as well as mark them present in the register. Should you be having difficulties in getting your child to school on time please contact the school and we will talk about ways we can help you.  If your child is going to arrive after 9.25 please call us as we need to order a dinner for them by then.

Every half term we are audited by Southampton City Council’s EWO team and they look at all of our children and their attendance to date.  They look at all children who are 95% or under for their attendance.

For children who arrive late regularly this does impact their attendance.  If a child arrives after 9.15am the child is classed as missing the first mark of the day.  It is the same with our home lunch children.  If they arrive after 12.55pm they are considered late and missing the afternoon session.

Lateness will be seen as a failure to attend school regularly and will be monitored, investigated and treated in the same way as persistent or unauthorised absence.  If a child arrives late arrive after 9.15 10 times in a half term Southampton City Council can send a Fixed Penalty Notice to the parents for non-attendance.  If the number of late arrivals takes Attendance below 85% we refer the matter to the Education Welfare Service and they will then work with parents directly to improve attendance or proceed to Legal Prosecution in the criminal courts.

ABSENCE:

IS MY CHILD WELL ENOUGH TO COME TO SCHOOL? – We often have lots of cases of Impetigo and sickness and diarrhoea in school which are highly contagious. The NHS advice for Impetigo is that most people are no longer contagious after 48 hours of treatment or once their sores have dried and healed. It's important to stay home from school, nursery or playgroup until this point. Children with diarrhoea and/or vomiting should definitely be kept off school until at least 48 hours after their symptoms have gone. Most cases of diarrhoea and vomiting in children get better without treatment, but if symptoms persist, consult your GP. Further advice can be found 

The NHS Healthier Together initiative have put together a helpful online guide to assist parents in deciding whether their child is well enough to attend school and what the recommended courses of treatment are.  It is sometimes difficult to know when your child is too ill to come to school.  We use the Healthier Together website to make decisions about when children should be in school. You can access this via the following link - Click the link to use the website yourself.

There is also a handy app which you can download so you have all of the advice and information on your smartphone or tablet.

Please make doctor & dentist appointments outside of the school day

More and more parents are making dental and medical appoint­ments outside the school day and returning children to school after appointments during the school day, this is very positive.  There is still work to do as Maytree’s attendance is not as good as other schools in the City. We need your continued support, so please help us.

NOT ATTENDING SCHOOL

It is the parent’s responsibility to report a child absent no matter the reason.  Parents can contact the school office before 9.00am by telephoning 02380 630522.  If you are asked to leave a message please say your child’s name and class and a short reason why the child is not in school. Alternatively, you can come to the school office in person. Please do not bother the class teacher first thing in the morning as they are too busy.  It is however the school’s decision whether or not to authorise an absence.

An explanation for an absence does not automatically enable it to be treated as authorised and not if the school considers the reason unacceptable.  The school will ask for evidence if the child’s attendance is below our target.  Reasons for absence are recorded by the school and all letters are kept in the school office.  If a child is absent due to illness, the school reserves the right for medical evidence to be provided before authorising this absence. This would be expected on the third day of absence or on the first day if a child’s attendance is already below 85%. Medical evidence might include an appointment card, a copy of the prescription, showing the medication to office staff or a formal letter from the GP.

Requesting a Leave of Absence

All children are expected to attend school for 190 days per year. Any requests must be made in writing, well in advance of the Leave of Absence.

Parents/carers do not have an automatic right to withdraw children from school, and by law must apply for permission in advance.  Authorised absence will only be permitted if the Headteacher considers the reason for the request is an “Exceptional Circumstance.”  The Head teacher reserves the right to determine what an exceptional circumstance might be.

Please note: Evidence will be requested to validate the reason for Leave of Absence.