Attendance

At St Matthew's, we believe that regular school attendance is the key to enabling children to maximise the educational opportunities available to them and become emotionally resilient, confident, and competent adults who are able to realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to their community.

We monitor attendance on a daily and weekly basis to ensure that all of our children are in school and reaching their targets. We very much want to work together with all of our families to help support children's attendance at school. If you would like to discuss your child's attendance further or if we can help to support you, please call the school office.

The DFE have issued guidance on attendance. To view the document please follow this link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63049617e90e0729e63d3953/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf

Holidays in Term Time

Online Leave of Absence Request Form

Term Time Leave of Absence Requests

If you are intending to apply for a leave of absence from school for your child, the correct form must be completed and submitted a full 2 weeks in advance of any departure date. All absence requests have to be in line with Bradford Council’s procedures.

Bradford Council has launched a new Leave of Absence E-Form (see link above) to simplify the process for families requesting term-time leave. This city-wide digital solution allows parents to submit one form for all children, regardless of which school they attend. Once submitted, the form is automatically shared with the relevant schools, enabling school to consider the request and notify parents of the outcome. This approach ensures legal compliance, and improves consistency in communication with families.

If you choose to take term time leave, it will be recorded as unauthorised. Absences can only be granted in exceptional circumstances which means it is ‘unexpected and unavoidable’. This means we will refer the absence to Bradford Council, who may issue a Penalty Notice. The fine is £160 per parent, per child. If paid within 21 days, the fine is reduced to £80. For a second unauthorised absence, the full £160 must be paid within 28 days.

If the absence is longer than 20 school days, or if your child has already had more than two periods of leave in the last 3 years, Bradford Council may take further legal action, which could include going to court.

From now on, parents do not need to complete a paper application form for term-time absence but will need to use the link to make an application.

Medical Issues
Medical and dental appointments should be made out of school time. If hospital appointments have to be made in school time, appointment cards/letters must be submitted to school one week prior to the appointment and copies will be kept on your child’s file. If the appointment is later in the morning, or afternoon, please bring your child into school first and then collect to take to the appointment.

Persistent short absence due to minor illness will be investigated by our attendance team. If there are a number of regular incidences of absences due to illness, then we may request that any subsequent illness must be validated with a doctor’s/nurse’s note.

Punctuality
All children should be in school by 8:50 am. Children coming into school via the office (after the bell has rung) will be logged daily. Our lessons start right at the beginning of the day, so any late-comers miss the start of their lesson. Many children find it embarrassing to walk into class late.

We hold the view that “Every Day Counts” and that high attendance is essential in order to ensure that all our children achieve their full potential.

Let’s work together to reach our target of 96%

If you need any support with attendance or punctuality, please do not hesitate to contact Mehnaz Mahmood, our office administrator.

UKHSA-should-I-keep-my_child_off_school_guidance-A3-poster.pdf

Additional Information

For additional information about school attendance, helping with your child's wellbeing and them attending school and other resources, please take a look at the following website developed by the Children's Commissioner: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/back-into-school/resources-for-families/