At New Ford Academy, we expect children to attend school every day, as long as they are fit and healthy enough to do so. If your child is not well enough to attend school, we expect a parent/carer to contact the school office as soon as possible giving a specific reason for the absence.

Because we have a duty of care for safeguarding your child, we will contact you if we do not receive a call on a daily basis to ensure we know your child is safe.

Ring 01782 234605 option 1

Please give your full child’s name and reason for their absence.

Ring on each day of the absence.

Attending school every day = 100% attendance

Attending 4½ days a week = 90% attendance = 4 weeks missed per year.

Attending 4 days a week = 80% attendance = more than half a term missed per year or 2 full years missed over the course of their school career.

Attending 3½ days each week = 70% attendance = more than a quarter of the school year missed.

An average attendance of 80% or less across a child’s school career adds up to missing a whole 2 years from school.

Being late for school reduces learning time.

If your child is 5 minutes late every day they will miss three days of learning each year.

If your child is 15 minutes late every day they will miss is 2 weeks of learning each year.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: GUIDANCE & INFORMATION ABOUT LEAVE FROM SCHOOL     

There are some important changes coming into effect from 1^st September 2025.

Holidays taken during term time will be regarded as unauthorised absences AND now will receive a fixed penalty fine, after 1^st September 2025.

We have delayed the impact of this National Government sanction in September 2024, but as a school we have no choice and must now include fixed penalty fines within our school procedures from September 2025.

These are outlined for you below in the Guidance Letter and Policy.

We also include here the new Leave of Absence Request Form: