The main points from our attendance policy are as follows:

• If your child is absent the parent/carer must follow the following procedures: 1. Contacting us as soon as possible on the first day of absence before 9.00am. The school has an answer phone to leave a message if nobody is available to take the call. 2. Getting in touch by email on office@bridge.kent.sch.uk. 3. Or the parent can call into school and report to the school office by 9.00am.
• If your child is absent we will: 1. Telephone on the first day of absence if we have not heard from you 2. Invite you in to discuss the situation with our admissions officer and/or headteacher if absences persist 3. Refer the matter to the Education Welfare Officer if attendance moves below 90%.
• A pupil becomes a ‘persistent absentee’ when they miss 10% or more schooling across the school year for whatever reason. Absence at this level is doing considerable damage to any child’s education and we need parent’s fullest support and co-operation to tackle this.
• Poor punctuality is not acceptable. If a child misses the start of the day they can miss work and do not spend time with their class teacher getting vital information and news for the day. Late arriving pupils also disrupt lessons, can be embarrassing for the child and can also encourage absence.
• The school day starts at 8.50am and we expect our children to be in the playground
  before this time ready to line up when the whistle is blown. Registers are marked at 8.50am and your child will receive a late mark if they are not in by that time. At 9.00 am the registers will be closed.
• There is no automatic entitlement in law to time off in school time to go on holiday.

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