HEADTEACHER: Mr L Robichaud | Ashford, TN24 9LS | Tel: 01233 622510

Office open 8:15am - 4:15pm , Breakfast club 7:45am - 8:40am, Morning gates open 8:40am - 8:50am Afternoon gates open at 3:10pm for 3:15pm

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Attendance & Punctuality

Your child should always attend school regularly during term times (dates can be found here). There are only two exceptions to this:

  • When your child is too ill to go to school;
  • When the school has authorised your child to be absent from school.

If your child is too ill to attend school, you should always call the school office (01233 622510) to let us know.

 Our Attendance Policy can be found here.

Absence

Anytime you wish to take your child out of school during term time, you must ask Mr Johnson, the Headteacher, for permission to do so. It is always the Headteacher's decision whether or not to allow an absence. If you do not ask for permission, or it is not allowed and you take your child out of school anyway, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised.

Parents often assume that they have the right to take their child out of school during term-time for family holidays; this isn't true. New DfE regulations recommend that Headteachers do not authorise time out of school for a family holiday.

The amendments make it clear that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Amendments to the regulations remove references to ‘family holiday’ and ‘extended leave’ as well as the statutory threshold of ten school days.

In order to comply with the new regulations, it means that holidays taken during term time will be recorded as ‘unauthorised’ and may be subject to a Penalty Notice. ‘Exceptional’ circumstances are likely to be rare and would be for events such as a funeral or a wedding. Applications must be submitted in writing before the event. In addition, parents are urged to make all routine medical and dental appointments after school or during school holidays.

The following link to the DfE website provides further details of the new regulations:  http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/behaviour/attendance/a00223868/regulations-amendments

 

Punctuality

At Phoenix it is vital your child gets to school on time as we start learning straight away, sometimes small group, 1:1 with an adult or independently. 15 minutes 'Early Work' is vital to make good progress and catch up any gaps. That's more than 1 hrs learning every week, more than 1 day's learning in term and more than 1 week of learning in a year!

Gates open at 8:40am and registration starts at 8.50am and by this time, all pupils should be in the classroom ready to start the school day. If children arrive late, it not only disrupts their learning, but has an impact of the learning of the whole class. 

 We positively encourage punctuality at Phoenix with our 'Not Late Gate'. One one random day every week Mr Johnson or Miss Town will be dressed up and handing out a raffle ticket to every pupil who is on time and therefore 'ready to learn'. A raffle draw pulls out 2 winners during our weekly celebration assembly and they choose from a range of prizes.

What happens if my child's attendance is too low?

As a school, we aim for 100% attendance. If your child's attendance dips below 90%, we will contact you to see if there is any support that we can offer in ensuring that your child attends school regularly. This may seem high but 90% equates to one day off every two weeks, which has a significant impact on a child's learning.

If attendance continues to drop then we may refer to matter to a KCC Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) who will be in contact to investigate.

 

Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) Contacts

  • Tel: 0300 333 5540
  • Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Contact Us

Tel: 01233 622510

Belmont Road, Ashford, 
Kent, TN24 9LS

  • Headteacher
    Mr L Robichaud
  • Office Manager
    Mrs D Davis
  • Finance
    Mrs S Burberry
  • Site Manager
    Mr S King
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