Absence

Notifying absence

If your child is unable to attend school for any reason you should contact the school via e-mail before 8.30am to inform them of the reason for your child’s absence.

If your child has a medical or dental appointment that requires them to miss school, please inform the school in advance of the appointment, at least a day in advance if at all possible.

If we do not hear from you, and your child misses morning registration, the school office will contact you by email and by telephone to establish the reason for your child’s absence.

All absences should be notified in writing to office@tkswitney.org.uk.

Punctuality

Pupils should arrive at school promptly. If they are late, please bring your child to the front office, where they can be registered. Please note that if your child is consistently late, we will contact you to ask for your support in ensuring punctuality.

Requesting leave

In exceptional circumstances, for example a family funeral, we understand your child may need to be away from school. Leave from school for exceptional events must be authorised in advance by the Principal. Please contact the school office for a request form.

The Principal cannot authorise absence from school purely for the reason of a cheaper holiday. Please read our Attendance Policy for further information.

Illness and injuries

If your child is too unwell to be in school for a whole day, please contact the school office in writing. If your child falls ill during the school day, we will contact you to arrange for you to collect them as quickly as possible. Please ensure we are kept up to date with your latest contact details so that we can contact you in an emergency.

If your child has diarrhoea and/or vomiting you must keep them away from school for at least 48 hours after the last episode of either diarrhoea or vomit. This is essential to reduce the risk of a whole class outbreak.

If your child has any infectious illness (including Scarlet Fever and Rubella), please do not send them into school while they have any symptoms. Many infectious illnesses are reportable to the local health authority - please ensure you give the school full details of any diagnosis to enable us to inform the correct agencies.

Head Lice and nits are a nuisance, and we request that as soon as you (or we) discover head lice they are treated. We will ask you to come to collect your child if we see head lice in school as this will reduce the spread. Please reassure your child that head lice are not especially attracted to dirty or clean hair and they cannot jump. Most chemists sell excellent over the counter remedies, but do remember to keep checking for at least a week after treatment to ensure that all the eggs have been treated. To reduce the spread, all long hair should be fully tied back.

If your child suffers a head injury at school, we will inform you as quickly as possible, regardless of the apparent seriousness of the injury. Please let the school know in writing if your child suffers a head injury at home and is at school within 72 hours of the injury. This will enable us to support you in monitoring your child for concussion.

Prescriptions

From time to time, children will need to take prescription medication in school. Please contact your child’s teacher, or the school office to inform them of the type and dose of the medicine that your child needs to take. In Early Years and Primary, medication should be passed to the class teacher, and you will be asked to complete a form confirming the dosage. In secondary, tutors should be informed; pupils may keep a small supply safely in their bag. Antibiotics that need to be kept cold can be given to the office for appropriate storage. Please note that the school cannot give out paracetamol (or similar) to pupils.

Emergency school closures

In the event of a school closure, TKS will contact all families via SMS message and email. If the closure is due to an incident overnight (e.g. snow), we will send messages to all families by 7am. We ask that families wait to hear from the school about closures, rather than hearing from other contacts at school. This will help to reduce confusion about school closure - we will do the best we can to convey messages quickly and as early in the day as we possibly can. Please ensure the school is notified of any changes to your contact details to enable us to save time in contacting everyone quickly.