Our expectation is that all students, Years 7- 11 are in their classrooms, sat down and ready to learn by 08:45am. Where this is not the case and children arrive on-site after the gates close at 08:40am, the student will be expected to sign in at Main Reception and they will then be recorded as late and will be expected to attend a 1-hour after school detention.

Parents and carers will be notified of this late detention via message or email. If there are extenuating circumstances such as medical appointments or illness, we ask that you ensure communication is sent to the school as early as possible to ensure absences are authorised if appropriate.

Reporting an absence 

In the case of a child being absent from school due to illness, parents are expected to inform the school each day of absence and have two options to report their absence:

1. Leave a message on the school's absence line, with details of your child's full name, form, reason for absence and expected date of return. Primary 01604 272572 / Secondary 01604 264320.
   
   Or 
    
2. Report via Edulink One, for absence up to 5 days.  

If a message is not received through either of these methods, it will be assumed that your child should be attending school. Please do not email teachers or form tutors directly. 

Please note, if your child is suffering from diarrhoea or vomiting, they must stay off school for 48 hours until they have not been sick or had diarrhoea for at least 2 days.

Parents who have failed to inform the school of their child’s absence will receive an email or text message; parents then have the remainder of the school day to contact the attendance line through one of the methods listed above. If no contact has been made by 3:30pm, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised.

Absences due to illness will normally be authorised once you tell us. Please note that in cases of absence more than five days, we may need the support of medical evidence.

Absence due to the funeral of a close family member, medical appointments, music exams and driving tests (up to half a day) will be authorised, provided advance notice is given to the school. Please click here for more information on requesting an absence.

Absences for any other reason (planned absences more than half a day) will only be authorised at the discretion of the Principal. To seek this authorisation, parents should submit a Request of Absence form as soon as possible before the planned absence. The form can be found below.

Please note that a request of absence will only be granted in exceptional circumstances. If an application is declined and a student is then absent due to illness during the period for which the leave of absence was requested, the absence will only be authorised if supported by medical evidence, for example, a doctor’s certificate.  All unauthorised absences of 10 sessions (5 school days) or more will be referred to the Educational Inclusion Partnership; this may result in a fixed penalty notice being issued or prosecution in the magistrate’s court (section 7 of the Education Act).

Leaving school early

Any student needing to leave school early e.g. for a medical appointment etc, MUST sign out. Primary students sign out in Primary reception, Year 7 – 11 students sign out in Main Reception, after their parent/ carer has informed school via the absence line or Edulink. Year 12 & 13 students can sign out with the Sixth Form Centre Manager, upon presenting a letter from their parents/ carers, a doctor’s appointment card or similar.

If a student becomes ill during the school day, medical assistance will be sought via the on-call system and if appropriate, permission to leave will be given by the attendance officer or a member of the senior leadership team. Any students who leave the school site without signing out during the school day (excluding lunchtime 12:40-1:40 Sixth Form only) will be issued with an unauthorised absence.

Requesting an absence  

Due to changes in Government legislation, schools are no longer able to authorise absence for family holidays, from 1 September 2013.

Please click here to view the cluster statement on the request for absence during term time, which also includes the Caroline Chisholm Cluster request for absence form.

Please click here for Northamptonshire’s County Council attendance and behaviour support for parents.

Returning the Absence Form

Parents should please return physical copies of the Request for Absence Form in person to Reception. Digital copies can be emailed to attendance@ccs.northants.sch.uk