If your child arrives late, they must be signed in the 'late book' which is situated in Reception. If you collect your child, or they arrive from an appointment, this also needs to be recorded here.

If your child is ill or has an early appointment, please telephone school on the number below to inform us before 9.00 am – this will save a lot of administration time.  
You may also email school - absence@dukenorfolk.derbyshire.sch.uk

Please telephone school on 01457 852635

As a school, we are particularly mindful of pupils absent from school due to mental or physical ill health or their special educational needs and/or disabilities and provide them with additional support.

The guidance acknowledges, “many children will experience normal but difficult emotions that make them nervous about attending school, such as worries about friendships, schoolwork, examinations or variable moods”. But it is “important to note that these pupils are still expected to attend school regularly”.

It can be tricky deciding whether or not to keep your child off school, nursery or playgroup when they're unwell.

There are government guidelines for schools and nurseries about managing specific infectious diseases at GOV.UK. These say when children should be kept off school and when they shouldn't.

If you do keep your child at home, it's important to phone the school or nursery on the first day. Let them know that your child won't be in and give them the reason.

If your child is well enough to go to school but has an infection that could be passed on, such as a cold sore or head lice, let their teacher know.

Other illnesses

Follow this advice for other illnesses:

Coughs and colds

It's fine to send your child to school with a minor cough or common cold. But if they have a fever, keep them off school until the fever goes.

Encourage your child to throw away any used tissues and to wash their hands regularly.

High temperature

If your child has a high temperature, keep them off school until it goes away.

Chickenpox

If your child has chickenpox, keep them off school until all the spots have crusted over.

This is usually about 5 days after the spots first appeared.

Cold sores

There's no need to keep your child off school if they have a cold sore.

Encourage them not to touch the blister or kiss anyone while they have the cold sore, or to share things like cups and towels.

Conjunctivitis

You don't need to keep your child away from school if they have conjunctivitis.

Do get advice from your pharmacist. Encourage your child not to rub their eyes and to wash their hands regularly.

COVID

If your child has mild symptoms, such as a runny nose, sore throat, or slight cough, and feels well enough, they can go to school.

Your child should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if they have symptoms of COVID-19 and they either:

• have a high temperature
• do not feel well enough to go to school or do their normal activities

What to do if your child has tested positive

Your child is no longer required to do a COVID-19 rapid lateral flow test if they have symptoms. But if your child has tested positive for COVID-19, they should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days after the day they took the test.

Ear infection

If your child has an ear infection and a high temperature or severe earache, keep them off school until they're feeling better or their high temperature goes away.

Hand, foot and mouth disease

If your child has hand, foot and mouth disease but seems well enough to go to school, there's no need to keep them off.

Encourage your child to throw away any used tissues straight away and to wash their hands regularly.

Head lice and nits

There's no need to keep your child off school if they have head lice.

You can treat head lice and nits without seeing a GP.

Impetigo

If your child has impetigo, they'll need treatment from a GP, often with antibiotics.

Keep them off school until all the sores have crusted over and healed, or for 48 hours after they start antibiotic treatment.

Encourage your child to wash their hands regularly and not to share things like towels and cups with other children at school.

Ringworm

If your child has ringworm, see your pharmacist unless it's on their scalp, in which case you should see a GP.

It's fine for your child to go to school once they have started treatment.

Scarlet fever

If your child has scarlet fever, they'll need treatment with antibiotics from a GP. Otherwise they'll be infectious for 2 to 3 weeks.

Your child can go back to school 24 hours after starting antibiotics.

Slapped cheek syndrome (fifth disease)

You don't need to keep your child off school if they have slapped cheek syndrome because, once the rash appears, they're no longer infectious.

But let the school or teacher know if you think your child has slapped cheek syndrome.

Sore throat

You can still send your child to school if they have a sore throat. But if they also have a high temperature, they should stay at home until it goes away.

A sore throat and a high temperature can be symptoms of tonsillitis.

Threadworms

You don't need to keep your child off school if they have threadworms.

Speak to your pharmacist, who can recommend a treatment.

Vomiting and diarrhoea

Children with diarrhoea or vomiting should stay away from school until they have not been sick or had diarrhoea for at least 2 days (48 hours).

Please provide advance notice where possible of any medical appointments for your child. It is also preferable to bring in or email a copy of the letter with details of the appointment. Please email this to absence@dukenorfolk.derbyshire.sch.uk

There is no entitlement to take a child out of school for a family holiday. Absence during term time is discretionary and not an automatic entitlement. Any request for absence during term time must be exceptional and can only be authorised by the Headteacher.

If you must take your child out of school for any period of time during term time, you must complete a Holiday Form (available for download below or by asking at the school office or by emailing absence@dukenorfolk.derbyshire.sch.uk. 

Holiday prices and the fact that parents have booked a holiday before checking with the school are not special reasons. Absence for a family holiday can result in pupils with poor attendance becoming persistent absentees.

Please complete the holiday request form at least two weeks in advance and hand it to a member of the office team.  If you have any queries, please contact the main school office by telephone (01457 852635) or via email at absence@dukenorfolk.derbyshire.sch.uk

 

If a child misses just one day of school, that is one day’s worth of education lost. If it’s more than one day, those losses will be cumulative and the effect on long-term prospects could not be more damaging.

Prior to Covid, absenteeism had been on the decline, but since the lockdowns, it appears attitudes towards attendance have changed, and we are now seeing a steep increase in absenteeism once again - around 380,000 fewer pupils were persistently off school last year than the year before. This does not take into account the number of children not attending school due to SEND/SEMH.

The DfE have published guidance on managing school attendance which became mandatory from September 2024.

Here's what you need to know as a parent.

£80 fines and Improvement Notices

Absence fines charged to parents are £80, or £160 if not paid within 21 days.  From Autumn term 2024, only two fines can be issued to the same parent for the same child within a three-year rolling period.

Any notice thereafter is automatically charged at £160.  

Parents will also receive "improvement notices", where they are informed that this is their last opportunity to engage with education and improve their child's attendance before a fine is issued.

National fine thresholds

Schools have to consider a fine if a pupil misses 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. One school session is half a day; a full day is therefore two sessions.   

Schools do not have a blanket position of issuing or not issuing penalty notices.

The threshold can be met with “any combination of unauthorised absence.

For example, four sessions in term time plus six instances of arriving late.

Long-Term Sickness will be Flagged with the Local Authority Derbyshire County Council

Schools have to give councils the name and address of sick pupils who they believe will miss 15 consecutive or cumulative days. Schools also have a duty of care to inform a pupil’s social worker if there are unexplained absences from school.