Late/Absence Procedures
If your child is late to school:
At Abel Smith there is a set procedure to follow should your child be late for school in the mornings.
The school day starts at:
Nursery school day starts at 08:30am.
Reception and KS1 school day starts at 08:40am.
KS2 school day starts at 08:40am.
Registers are marked as follows:
Nursery registers are marked by 09:00am
Reception and KS1 registers are marked by 08:50am
KS2 registers are marked by 08:50am
If your child arrives at school after 8:50am, they must walk around to the school office and be signed in. Pupils will receive a late mark if they are not in their classroom by these times.
At 09:00am school registers close and your child will be marked as 'U' (after register closes). This mark is counted as an unauthorised absence on your child attendance certificate.
If you need to contact school to inform us of the reason why your child will be late, please follow the procedure below for reporting/recording an absence.
If you need to report/record an absence:
There is also a set procedure to follow should your child not be attending school for all/part of the day.
If your child is going to be absent from school and you need to contact the school to record this absence, please ensure you telephone the school office on 01992 583244 and then press 'Option 1' or email absence@abelsmith.herts.sch.uk
- You will need to contact the school as soon as possible on the first day of your child’s absence. As parents you are expected to contact the school every day of your child’s absence, unless the school has agreed otherwise due to the nature of the absence.
- A telephone call will be made, by the school office to the parent of any pupil who has not reported their child’s absence on the first day of non-attendance at school. If the priority contact cannot be reached, then other registered adults for the child will be contacted in priority order to determine the nature of the absence.
- As far as possible, you as parents, will attempt to book medical and dental appointments outside of school hours. Where this is not possible, a message will be sent to the school office on 01992 583244 - pressing 'Option 1' or by emailing absence@abelsmith.herts.sch.uk
- If the appointment requires the pupil to leave during the school day, they will be signed out at the school office by a parent.
- Pupils will attend school before and after the appointment wherever possible.
Is my child too ill for school?
Use this link to help you make your decision: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/