Truancy

It is important for children to attend school regularly. If they are unable to attend due to illness or for any other reason, please inform the school as soon as possible.

You are responsible for making sure that your child attends school regularly and punctually. If your child has an unsatisfactory attendance record, their head teacher will ask an Education Welfare Officer to visit your home to discuss any problems. They will work with you to identify the reasons for non-attendance and look at how your child's attendance can be improved.

Where a child was expected to attend and has not appeared in the morning, and where no advance notification has been provided, parents/carers will be notified of the child's non-appearance as early as possible in the day.

Such notification will be on the basis of contact information held by the school or centre, and can be by telephone, SMS, fax, or personal contact. Where there is a separate afternoon attendance and a child does not appear, a similar contact procedure is in place.

This contact will normally only be necessary at the time of the initial absence and it will be the parent/carer's responsibility to notify the school/centre when the child should have returned after a period of absence. It will also be the parent/carer's responsibility to ensure that contact information held by schools and centres is up-to-date and accurate.