Here at Painters Ash we value good attendance and punctuality and strive for 100% attendance in all our classes. We ask parents to work with us to support their child by ensuring that they are in school and on time every day.

The school gates open at 8.40am and the gate closes at 8.55am. Children arriving after this time will have to be signed in to the late arrivals book in the office by a parent.

Absence
There are 365 days in a year, 190 of which your child will spend in school. That leaves 175 non school days in which you can book family holidays and special days out. We realise that there may be rare occasions on which your child may need to be absent from school, and so we urge you to read the following guidance on school absence.

Authorised absence
An authorised absence means that the school accept the reason you have given for your child's absence and have marked the register accordingly.

Instances which warrant an authorised absence include:
- Doctors appointments
- Emergency dental appointments
- Hospital appointments
- Evidence of these appointments, such as an appointment card/ letter or prescription will be required.

Unauthorised absence
An unauthorised absence means that you have given no reason for your child's absence or that the school does not accept the reason you have given. For example, birthday celebrations, family days out, holidays, parent or sibling illness will not be authorised.
The school will contact the parent or guardian of any child who has an unauthorised absence.

On the rare occasion that a child has a repeated number of unauthorised absences the school may refer you to the Local Authority Attendance Service and if no improvement is made court action could be taken.

Support
We would like to highlight that the School is keen to work with parents to avoid such action, and so we have a dedicated FLO/Attendance officer, Mrs Mannie Hooper, who is available via the School Office and can support parents with attendance or punctuality concerns.