Reporting your child absent

Reporting your child’s absence (Years 7 to 13):  text number and email address

If your son/daughter is ill and unable to attend school, you are asked to text the school mobile phone absence number, 07860 040110, by 9.00am on the morning of the day of absence stating your name, your child’s name and tutor group, and the reason for absence.  You may also respond to any school text messages received from the school regarding your child’s attendance.  Please note that texts can only be received from mobile telephone numbers held on the school’s management information system.  If you have changed your mobile number, please advise the school of this in writing as soon as possible.  This is a text only service, please do not try and ring this number.

 

If you prefer to email information about your child’s absence from school, please do so via the  school absence email address,9314050@sims-communications.co.uk and this will be received directly by our SIMS InTouch home school communication system.  Please ensure that this email address is on your safe sender list.

 

If you do not have access to a mobile phone or the internet, please telephone school reception on 01993 703955 (but please bear in mind that the phone line is busy at the start of the day and there may be a delay in being connected to reception). 

 

"First Contact" is operated for all students in Years 7 to 11. If we do not receive a text and your child does not arrive in school, we will text you to let you know.  It is therefore vital that we have accurate contact numbers. First Contact enables us to quickly determine that a student who is absent is genuinely ill and safely at home.  In the past, we could not be sure of this until an absence note was supplied on the student’s return. It is also true that some students will consciously stay away from school without a medical reason.  We need to know when this is happening because a pattern of truancy is easily established and often hard to break, now and in later life.

 

If you do not have access to a mobile phone or the internet, please telephone school reception on 01993 703955 (but please bear in mind that the phone line is busy at the start of the day and there may be a delay in being connected to reception).  You are asked to contact the school every morning after that unless you have informed us in writing in advance. 

 

Late arrival to school

If your child arrives after the end of tutor time, they must go straight to reception to sign in before going to their lesson. Arriving late after tutor time will impact your child’s attendance record.