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Attendance and Absence

Procedure for Reporting Absences from School 

St Martin's Schools requires a daily message to be received before 9:20am from Parents or Carers to inform us of any absence from school due to either illness or medical appointments.
Please see below for the options of how to report an absence for your child: 

  • Email the school office, office@stmartinsepsom.school 
  • Telephone call, 01372 846930 - option 1 
  • Please include your child's full name, class and the reason they are not at school. 

Where there is a prolonged absence from school a doctor's certificate or note may be required by us as evidence to support the absence. 

If you have any medical or other appointments that will lead to your child being late to school, please also inform us using the email address or telephone number above.  

When should I keep my child home from school? 

It can sometimes be tricky deciding whether or not to keep your child off school when they’re not feeling 100% but this NHS website might help: 
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/ 

We are committed, in partnership with the parents, pupils, governors and the Local Education Authority to building a school which serves the community commendably and of which the community is proud. 

We firmly believe that all pupils benefit from regular school attendance. To this end, we will do all we can to encourage parents/carers to ensure that the children in their care achieve maximum attendance and that any problems preventing full attendance are identified and acted on promptly. Please do contact your child’s class teacher if you have any concerns about your child’s attendance or their feelings about coming into school. It is often easier to address these issues as early as possible.  

Click here to view our attendance policy on the policies page. 

The school holiday dates are published a year in advance and are available on our term dates page. We strongly request that parents/carers only book their holidays during the school holiday dates.  

All absences are noted and categorised as ‘authorised’ or ‘unauthorised’. Authorised absences include illness, medical appointments etc and are at the discretion of the Co-Headteachers. 

If an absence during term time is unavoidable, a Leave of Absence Request form must be completed and sent to the office. Our Attendance Officer will then decide whether the absence can be authorised and you will be informed by the tear off slip. 

The Inclusion Service reviews our attendance figures on a regular basis. If our Inclusion Officer has concerns, we will write to you.