If your child is absent from school, parents/carers are requested to phone or email the school office on the first day of absence by 9.10am and, if the absence is for more than one day, please maintain contact with school daily.

Parents are required to inform the school of all absence by personal contact, e-mail, telephone or letter.   Notification of the nature of the illness and the expected length of absence is also requested.  If your child is absent from school for 5 days or more we will require medical evidence on their return to school.

A telephone call to the parent/carer will be made on the first day of each non-attendance if no contact has already been received. If an explanation for absence is unsatisfactory, parents will be contacted to discuss any difficulties with school attendance.

For medical or other appointments during the school day, notification is required in advance.  We also require evidence of the appointment emailed to the school office. This can be an appointment card, email or text which will then be added to your child's record.  Routine appointments/check-ups should be made out of school hours wherever possible.

No holidays will be authorised during term time. 

The school holiday dates are published a year in advance and parents/carers should take their family holidays during these times. Our term dates can be found here.

If there is a situation where a child will be absent during term time you must submit an absence request form available from the office, or click here to download a copy, explaining the reason for absence. You will be notified of the result of the request.   National Tests are administered during the Summer Term – requests for absence during this period must be avoided.

Please be aware that The Education (Pupil Registration)(England) (Amendment)  Regulations 2013, which became law on 1^st September 2013 state that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. The Headteacher should determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if leave is granted.  In accordance with the above Regulations, requests for leave of absence are treated sympathetically, but only in exceptional circumstances can they be approved.  The policy of Surrey County Council to which this school has agreed, states that parents who take their child out of school for five days or more during term time, without the authority of the Headteacher, will each be liable to receive a penalty notice. Penalty Notices will be issued by the Local Authority.  

1. If you have not incurred a penalty notice relating to this child/children in a rolling 3 year period since 19 August 2024, then the penalty notice will be charged at the rate of £160.00, per parent/carer per child, if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80.00 if paid within 21 days of receipt of the notice. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice will result in Surrey County Council considering legal proceedings against you in the Magistrates Court.

2. If you have incurred a penalty notice relating to this child/children since 19 August 2024, the rolling 3 year period will be activated from the date of the first penalty notice and the second penalty notice will be charged at the flat rate of £160.00, per parent/carer per child, if paid within 28 days. There will be no reduction for payment within 21 days. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice will result in Surrey County Council considering legal proceedings against you in the Magistrates Court.

3. If you have incurred 2 penalty notices relating to this child/children in the rolling 3 year period since the first penalty notice was issued, then you will NOT receive a third penalty notice – Surrey County Council will have no option but to consider a prosecution, per parent/carer per child, in the Magistrates Court under s 444 Education Act 1996.

Surrey County Council is not responsible for authorising pupil absence and therefore cannot withdraw any Penalty Notice requests without the written permission of the Headteacher.

The Education Welfare Service is part of the Local Education Authority which has responsibility for promoting, encouraging and enforcing regular school attendance. The EWO regularly visits the school to look at attendance, patterns of absence (e.g. Fridays) and lateness. Children whose attendance is cause for concern will be referred, depending on circumstances.   This may lead to a School Attendance Agreement being required, which the parent/carers, head teacher and EWO all sign.   Registers are monitored by the EWO (Education Welfare Officer) at least half-termly.

If there are any issues regarding attendance, it is vital that parents contact the school as soon as possible so that we can support both you and your child. We have a range of options available so please do not hesitate to get in touch. Unfortunately, if very poor attendance is not addressed it could result in a heavy fine or even court proceedings. (Please see our attendance policy, available on our website). Improved attendance is also rewarded along with 100% attendance. So it's never too late to turn things around. All children benefit from regular attendance.

If a student does not attend school regularly, the impact on their progress cannot be underestimated. The government set a benchmark of 95%, above this level of attendance students are expected to make the best progress. Woodlea Primary School's attendance target from Surrey is 96.5%. Attendance below 95% could seriously affect a child's progress. At Woodlea Primary school we keep track of the attendance of all our students and as a parent/carer you can expect the following actions:

The school day starts at 8.45 am and we expect children to be in school by this time.  Essential learning is missed when children arrive late.

• More than 5 lates in a half term = letter home
• More than 10 lates in a half term = Meeting with Headteacher and/or Educational Welfare office involvement

If your child arrives at school 5 minutes late every day, over the school year they will have missed a total of 3 ½ days of school!

Each week the class with the least number of absences will be celebrated in the Headteacher Award assembly and parents will be informed in the Woodlea Word.

Individual pupils are rewarded for 100% attendance at the end of each term with an Attendance Certificate. At the end of each year Certificates are awarded for 100% yearly attendance.