At Ide Hill CE Primary School, our ethos and vision "Do everything in love" shapes all that we do. We aim for children to form a positive attitude towards school and positive attendance. Our values of Love, Respect and Responsibility support us in our aim for all children to develop a love of God, a love learning, a love of everyone and a love of life.
Ide Hill Church of England Primary School is committed to the continuous raising of achievement of all of our pupils. The Governors, Head Teacher and staff recognise that there is a direct link between regular attendance and good academic performance. It is our aim that all pupils will reach their full potential both academically and socially. Good attendance is fundamental to a successful and fulfilling school experience. Our school actively promotes 100% attendance for all of our pupils and we use a variety of rewards to promote good attendance and punctuality.
We recognise that parents/carers have a vital role to play in giving your child a good start in life, and a legal responsibility to ensure good attendance. We promise to identify, investigate and work in partnership with parents/carers, pupils and other agencies to resolve attendance problems.
Ide Hill CE School is a Rights Respecting School. We recognise the following Rights on the Convention of the child:
Article 28 : Every child has the right to an education.
Article 29 : Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.
Article 31 : Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities
Article 19 : Every child has the right to be safe and cared for.
Requesting leave of absence from school during term time.
The law does not grant parents/carers an automatic right to take their child out of school during term time. You may consider that a holiday will be an educational family experience, but your child will still miss out on the teaching that their peers will receive, which is something that we all have a responsibility to avoid. Any absence from school will disrupt your child’s learning. We have a collective responsibility to ensure that Ide Hill meets statutory requirements and obligations to ensure that children attend school regularly.
As per the school attendance policy, the list below provides examples of reasons for which holiday will not be authorised:
- Where the child has an absence level of 95% or less as this is considered as persistent absence.
- For a family holiday.
- Issues relating to the cost of a holiday or confusion over school term dates.
- Where the holiday request falls at the start of the academic year or during testing periods.
- Persistent non-specific illness e.g. poorly/unwell or when an absent sibling is unwell.
- Medical/dental appointments of more than half a day without very good reasons
- Oversleeping/ Lack of transport / Inadequate uniform