Honest Absences

Every year we have children who have a day off or a holiday in term time and we are told they are sick. What parents may not realise is the other children tell us where they are, or the child themselves announces that they are going to be sick tomorrow to the class teacher. When this does happen the absence goes as unauthorised on our system, but more importantly,  it really worries me that the children are being taught to lie. We would far prefer you to be honest about this situation and the child not be put in a difficult and dishonest position.

Ideally, your child should be in school every day unless they are genuinely sick.  We have noticed that children who have lower attendance seem to struggle more with anxiety, academics and friendships when they return to school—this is a real national concern right now and educationalists and mental health professionals are very worried about the long-term impacts of poor attendance.