¤ Absence Reporting ¤

If your child is going to be absent from school, you must contact the school office by 9am on the first day of absence.

If you child will be absent for a number of days, parents are expected to keep in touch with school regularly, and give an expected return date.

You can contact the school stating your child’s name, class, reason for absence and expected date of return via the following methods:

Email:   absence@mgis.org.uk

        Tel:     0121 779 5667 (option 1)   

¤ Absences from School ¤

Frequent absence is a serious problem for pupils as often much of the work they miss is not made up, leaving those pupils at a significant disadvantage for the remainder of their school career. There is a clear link between poor school attendance and low levels of achievement.

At Marston Green Infant Academy, we ask for your help and support as parents, to address any attendance issues as quickly as possible.

The most common reason for pupil absence is illness. When deciding whether your child is too unwell to attend school, ask yourself the following questions:

¨ Is my child well enough to do the activities of the school day?

¨ Does my child have a condition that could be passed on to other children or staff?

¨ Would I take the day off if I had this condition?

Think carefully before keeping your child away from school for medical reasons.  If they wake up saying they are unwell, consider whether the symptoms they have mean they need to stay at home.  Do you keep your child away from school ‘just in case’, when they could be in class learning with their friends?

Our staff will always contact parents/nominated contacts if they feel your child is unwell, and should go home.  We can also contact you throughout the school day to give an update if they have not been feeling 100%.  All staff are qualified in Paediatric First Aid and deal with minor cuts and grazes occurring during break times. Although we do the best we can, there is no comfortable, quiet place for children to rest in school, and so in cases where we suspect illness, parents are contacted.  In cases where the child has been sick or has diarrhoea, please keep him/her at home for 48 hours after the last occurrence.

 It is easy in school for infection to spread unless we are all prepared to take care. Below is a table with suggested times for keeping your child away from school of he/she has any of these illnesses.

¤ Absence for Long Periods of Time ¤

If your child is absent from school for more than 3 days or is often absent for short periods, you may be asked to provide supporting evidence to confirm the reason for the absence.  If your child is frequently ill, the school may be able to offer advice.  

At Marston Green Infant Academy we work closely with CSAWS, who are an independent Education Welfare Service offering schools guidance, advice and direct work in raising school attendance and improving outcomes for pupils and their families. We may make a referral to CSAWS if we feel their support is required. 

¤ Special Considerations ¤

You should inform the school if your child has had hospital or surgical treatment and is returning to school with stitches or a plaster cast etc., as we may need to restrict their PE lessons, playtimes and lunchtimes.

¤ Medical Appointments ¤

If your child requires a general non-urgent medical appointment, we kindly ask that these be made outside school hours wherever possible.  However, if such appointments are unavoidable, the office will require parents to provide proof of the appointment such as an appointment card/letter in order to authorise the absence.

Hospital and specialist appointments during the school day will be authorised, however we do request a copy of the appointment letter, as well as sufficient notice where possible.

Routine medical examinations are periodically undertaken at the Academy by the School Nurse and you will be informed of any pending examination. Other examinations are carried out by the Dentist and hearing tests are undertaken by the Audiometrician on your child’s entry to school, or when requested by the parents or class teacher.

For more information, please see our Attendance Policy on our main Policies page.