Upminster Junior School

We take attendance very seriously at Upminster Junior School. We would like parents to follow certain procedures which are outlined in the Attendance Policy.

• Please telephone between 8.15am and 9.30am on the first day your child is sick to inform us why he/she is not in school. If this is not done the school will phone down the list of contacts until we can ascertain where the pupil is and that they are safe. It is also a legal requirement that you provide a note to explain the absence when the child returns to school. If your child is sick for a period of 5 days or longer we require some proof of medical absence, either a doctors note or a prescription brought into the school office.
• If you need to request a leave of absence, we require a Request for Leave of Absence Form to be completed even if you know the leave will be unauthorised.
• We would ask parents to be truthful in explaining why children are absent, honesty is something we wish to encourage in our children.
• If your child's absence falls below 95% you will receive a letter from the Headteacher.
• If absence continues to fall to below 85% the Education Welfare Officer will intervene.

Registers are taken promptly at 8.55am, children who arrive after registration and before 9.30am are classed as late. Punctuality is monitored weekly - If your child is persistently late, this will prompt a phone call / letter from the Headteacher explaining that children who are late disrupt the class and miss instructions from the teacher. If this does not improve, you will be asked to meet with the Headteacher. Children who arrive after 9.30am when the registers are closed receive an absence mark and parents have to write in to say why their child was absent.