To help children reach their full educational potential, high levels of school attendance are essential.

SJTB Primary School is committed to providing a high-quality education for all pupils. We believe every child should feel welcomed and valued within our school community. Parents are recognised as vital learning partners, and their involvement is key to our collective success. Every child has the right to access the education they are entitled to, and it is a shared responsibility between parents and staff to promote excellent attendance and punctuality. Together, we strive toward the goal of 100% attendance for all children.

Children receive 13 weeks of annual holiday from school, and term dates are published well in advance online. We ask that parents and carers plan family holidays during these designated breaks to avoid disrupting their child’s education. Under education law, parents do not have the right to take their child out of school for holidays during term time. Leave may only be granted in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the headteacher, who will determine whether the absence qualifies and how many days may be authorised. Holidays taken during term time can negatively impact a child’s progress and will not be authorised.

Parents or carers who take their child out of school without the absence being agreed and authorised by written permission from the school can be issued with a penalty fine.

For helpful advice to support good school attendance, parents can visit:

Resources for families | Children's Commissioner for England 

Is your child too poorly for school or nursery? New advice will help you decide:

It is always a worry when a child becomes unwell, but it is not always obvious how to care for them and whether you should keep them at home. You can now find handy NHS guidance in one place online that will help you identify a possible condition, so you can decide whether to send your child to school or nursery.

On the website is a list of common childhood illnesses and conditions from conjunctivitis to head lice, as well as symptoms such as a high temperature and a sore throat and what these might mean. There is advice about what to do and when a child should return to education after being treated.

Visit the Should your child go to school/nursery today? website at https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/ or go online and search for 0-18 should child go to school .

Please bookmark this website so it is easy to find if ever your child becomes unwell.

If you are unsure about your child's wellbeing, please talk to your local pharmacist, call the NHS helpline on 111, or contact your GP.

This guidance has been created by the County Council, with the NHS and local authority partners through the Healthier Together initiative, which aims to improve the health of children and young people in Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Please note, if your child has experienced vomiting and/or diarrhoea, your child should return to school 48 hours after the last episode of diarrhoea or vomiting. Please do not send them back to school before this. This helps to limit the spread of infection.