General Absence:
Please notify the office as soon as possible if your child is absent from school. Please telephone 01223 843107 to leave your message, stating your child's name and the reason for absence. Alternatively, please email your message to office@shelford.cambs.sch.uk
In the interests of safeguarding, a member of the administrative team will contact parents if a message has not been received.
The school is obliged to record the number of authorised and unauthorised absences each year. Absences are authorised according to criteria following a written explanation. Holidays are not authorised during term time.
Medical and dental appointments should be booked outside of the school day. However, if this is not possible, please inform the office as soon as possible. On arrival, parents/carers should come to the office to sign in their child.
If your child has an appointment which means having to leave school during the school day please inform the class teacher and school office as soon as possible. Parents/carers should come to the office to sign out your child.
Request for Absence: Exceptional Circumstances
If you require to take absence from school for exceptional circumstances, you can apply for this using the form below. Examples might include attending a close family event, such as a wedding or funeral. The usual format for this is that the school may authorise the event plus days agreed for appropriate travel. (Term-time holiday is not authorised, but you are required to complete the form below to declare the request).
Cambridgeshire County Council Penalty Notices
Please note that requests for absence that include 6 or more consecutive sessions (equivalent to three whole days) that are classified by the school as unauthorised, meet the criteria for referral to the local authority for a Penalty Notice. These are calculated as £60 multiplied by the number of pupils, multiplied by the number of parents responsible for the absence.
For example, 2 pupils with 2 parents responsible for the unauthorised absence incurs a £240 fine.
Normally it will be assumed that a child who is fit enough to come to school is fit enough to play outside during break and at lunchtime. In exceptional cases, e.g. asthma or physical injury, arrangements will be made for a child to be supervised inside during playtime. Please apply to the Headteacher for permission in these circumstances.