Attendance and Holidays

At Bligh Primary School, we make no excuses for insisting that our children are in school everyday. This is every parent's responsibility and indeed legal duty. 

Every minute counts!

We will work in partnership with pupils, parents, carers and the wider community to improve all aspects of attendance and punctuality.

As a school, we take a proactive approach through a range of positive initiatives to ensure our children attend school regularly and on time. These include:

• Celebration Assemblies every Friday to see which class(es) achieve the highest levels of attendance over the week;
• Presenting individual 100% attendance certificates at Celebration Assemblies at the end of Term 6;
• Offering attendance clinics to parents and carers who experience difficulties in getting their child(ren) to school regularly and on time. This is supported by colleagues from SEEAS; and
• Actively using ‘Pupil Voice’ to seek ideas and feedback from Bligh’s pupils on attendance and punctuality systems and rewards.

Reporting Absences

In the event that your child is unable to attend school, please email: absences@bligh-maritime.org or telephone the school on 01634 336220 by 9:00am on each day of absence and include the following information:

• Name of pupil;
• Class; and
• Reason for absence.

Any absences that are not reported will be followed up initially with a telephone call and/or email. If we are unable to make contact, we may undertake a home visit as part of our statutory safeguarding procedures. Please see the Penalty Notice for Unauthorised Absences regarding procedures in conjunction with Medway Council AASSA.

We ask that, as far as possible, any health or dental appointments are made outside of school hours but recognise that this is not always possible. For any planned absence, for example a medical appointment such as the hospital, doctor or dentist, please complete an Absence Request Form and attach a copy of the appointment card or letter. Hard copies are available from the School Office. Please be aware that parents and carers may be asked to meet with the school’s Attendance Manager to discuss any requests in more detail.

If you have any queries or concerns regarding attendance, please request an appointment by contacting the office as follows:

• Telephone: 01634 336220
• Email: absences@bligh-maritime.org

For further information, please see Attendance and lateness policy.

Thank you for ensuring that your child(ren) attend school regularly and on time.

Holidays

Holidays taken in school time are not authorised and could result in a fine. Families taking holidays in term time will be referred to the Educational Welfare Officer. The absence request form can be downloaded here.

Maritime Trust Attendance Strategy

In additional to The Bligh Attendance policy, the school works in partnership with the Maritime Trust to ensure that school attendance is prioritised. The Trust strategy can be found here.