Parent Communication

It is a legal requirement for parents to ensure that their children attend school between the ages of 5 and 16 unless they have decided to educate them at home. Parents are responsible for ensuring that their children are at school for the 190 days of the school year. The remaining 175 days are school holidays. All pupils are therefore expected to be in school each day unless their absence from school is unavoidable.

My child is unwell today. What should I do?

All children need to be in school every day to achieve their best. Of course, we understand when a child is too poorly to attend school and in this case we ask you please to either: telephone or email the school office before 9am on each day of absence to let the school know that your child is unwell and the reason for this absence.

Attendance criteria for reports

I would like to take my child out of school to go on holiday. What do I need to do?

In the past, headteachers were allowed to to grant up to 10 days leave of absence per year for the purpose of a family holiday during term time in “special circumstances”. Additionally, Headteachers could grant extended leave for more than ten school days in exceptional circumstances. (The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 ).

However, government have made changes to the 2006 regulations. These changes now make it clear that headteachers may not grant any holidays during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. For this reason, the ten day allowance has been removed and headteachers  should determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if the leave is granted. These changes came into effect on 1st September 2013. Parents can be fined for taking their child on holiday during term time without consent from the school penalty notices. Penalty notices of £60 will be issued to each parent for each child that is absent and should be paid within 21 days. If unpaid after 21 days the penalty notice will double to £120 . ( Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013.) Instructions on how to pay the penalty notice are contained within the notice itself and funds from these notices are paid directly to the local council.

My holiday is in 'exceptional circumstances' not just a family holiday! What do I do?

Please email the school office detailing your request for an authorised absence. 

Every effort will be made to keep the school open in severe weather. However, we may close due to ‘unavoidable’ circumstances. Those circumstances being that it is no longer safe for staff or pupils to be onsite. We recognise that it is important that our school remains open so parents are able to work and pupils can continue to learn. Therefore, we will make every effort to prepare for severe snow/ice.

HOW WILL WE LET YOU KNOW IF THE SCHOOL IS CLOSED?

However, if we do experience severe snow/ice resulting in hazardous conditions, we may have to take the decision to close the school. Once this decision has been made parents will be notified via MCAS and a message will be put on the school website.  We will also be notifying the Kent Closures website.

To determine whether Four Elms Primary School is open or closed please visit www.kentclosures.co.uk. Search for the school in the search box. The Kent Closures website can also be used to find out if other services in Kent are open or closed, such as nurseries, children’s centres and libraries. We also recommend parents sign up for SMS/Email alerts on the Kent Closures website. This service will send an SMS or email alert to let parents know if our school is closed. Parents can also listen to KMFM, BBC Radio Kent or Heart FM to hear if the school has closed.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

• Please visit www.kent.gov.uk/winter for more information about gritting routes and travel issues around Kent so you can plan your journey.
• Please walk your child(ren) to school. If this is not possible, please make arrangements to car share and drive slowly and carefully
• Please ensure children are wearing warm clothing – gloves, hats, scarves, wellies and even extra socks! School shoes are also needed; children without a change of shoes will be unable to go outside at break times.
• Many thanks for your support in helping the school remain open during periods of severe snow/ice.