Attendance

Notification of Absence.

Securing a high level of attendance requires the College and home to work closely together.Ensuring your child’s regular attendance at school is a parent/carer’s legal responsibility (Section 444 of the 1996 Education Act) and permitting absence from school that is not authorised by the school creates an offence in law.

We ask parents/carer’s to use one of the following methods only to notify the college of your son/daughter’s absence by using the dedicated absence reporting line by telephoning; 0116 2411920 Option 1, please leave a voicemail should the call be unanswered or by emailing [email protected]

Please provide the following details;

  • Your son/daughter's full name
  • Registration group
  • Reason for absence
  • Who’s calling and your relationship
  • Please keep us informed daily of absences.

We would also like to take this opportunity to remind you of the following regarding school attendance.

Medical Appointments.

Students are not permitted to leave the College during the day unless a note is brought from home in advance and for parent/carers not to arrive at reception without prior notice.  We ask you to make doctor’s and dentist’s appointments outside College hours where this is possible. If your child needs to go to a medical or dental appointment during the day, they must have a note from you along with confirmation of the appointment which will be signed by their Form Tutor / HoY or AHoY so they can obtain a pass from the office. We can only issue passes on receipt of a letter from home and confirmation of the appointment.

Leave of Absence Requests.


An agreement to authorise an absence is entirely at the discretion of the Principal and authorisation will only ever be considered for exceptional circumstances. We expect parent/carers to avoid absences during term time other than for illness. Any request for leave of absence must be made well in advance on the Leave of Absence Request Form available from the Main Office. We will require the original booking email confirmation and airline or travel tickets before you travel and a destination address. We may also request copies of other travel related documents from you. We will advise you if this is the case.

Fixed Penalty Notices will be issued if leave of absence is not agreed but the time off is still taken.


Please note: For unauthorised absence from August 2024, Penalty Notices have increased to £160 per parent per child (discounted to £80 if paid within 21 days).  If there is occasion to issue a second Penalty Notice for unauthorised leave of absence within a rolling 3-year period, it will be issued at the higher rate of £160 per parent per child, with no opportunity to pay at the lower level.  A Penalty Notice cannot be issued if there is a third occasion of unauthorised leave of absence in the rolling 3-year period and it is highly likely that the local authority will take direct prosecution action in the Magistrates’ Court which can result in you receiving a criminal conviction.  Please also be aware that any cases of extended periods of unauthorised absence, linked to holidays or trips away, are highly likely to result in prosecution action by the local authority.

We hope you will support your son/daughter’s attendance and education with the above.

Many thanks and kind regards,

Judgemeadow Community College