Attendance & Absence

Here at Sale Grammar School we have the highest expectations across all areas of school life including attendance. We value positive relationships between both staff and students and work with our students to ensure that they have the highest possible attendance at School, as we believe that this is the best way for our students to succeed and to get the most out of all Sale Grammar School has to offer.

We do appreciate that at times, students may not be able to attend school, and we ask our parents/carers to follow the processes below that support our safeguarding procedures.

Should you have a concern about your child’s attendance, then we ask that you contact us to discuss this. We believe in strong partnership work across all areas of School life, including attendance at School.

It is also important to us that students arrive to school on time, and they must be in their form room by 8:25am. Any Student who arrives late without a valid reason will be issued with a sanction. Persistent lateness will be discussed with both Students and Parents/carers so that we can put in place any necessary measures that ensure our students attend on time. It must be noted that lateness to school can in some circumstances be classed as an unauthorised absence and as a result, can incur a penalty notice.

Absence through illness or unforeseen circumstances:

Please telephone the school (0161 973 3217) on the first and any subsequent days of absence before 8:25am or alternatively send an email to absence@salegrammar.co.uk If you need to leave a message, we ask that you leave your name, your child’s name, their form and the reason for their absence. Do expect to receive a call back from the School to discuss your child’s absence and to see if we can support in any way.

Students should bring a note/entry in their planner to their Form Tutor immediately on their return from any absence.

If students suffer any form of injury, then we ask that you contact the School to make us aware. This is so that we can carry out any necessary risk assessment will be completed with a parent/carer to identify any implications of the injury and any support that your child may need as a result of this.

Attending an appointment

We ask that any appointments including dental and non-urgent medical appointments are made outside of School time. We do understand that sometimes this is difficult, for example for certain hospital appointments, and if you are unable to make the appointment at a different time, then we will ask your child to provide a medical letter or appointment card for our records. Any Student in Years 7-11 who attends an appointment during the School day will need to be collected and brought back to the School following the appointment, if it ends during the School day.

Known absence:

There may be exceptional circumstances whereby your child requires absence from school. If this is the case, then parents/carers should submit a written request to the Headteacher, using the form below. Where possible, this should be made at least four weeks before the required date. The form should be completed and emailed back to adminteam@salegrammar.co.uk. Should a request such as this be made, then the School expects the request to be for the shortest time period possible, but even then, they may not be able to authorise the request.

It must be noted that if permission from the Headteacher is not authorised, then any absence taken is classed as ‘unauthorised absence’ and can incur a penalty notice.

We must follow legal guidelines and therefore holiday requests during term-time will not be authorised and penalty notices can be issued as per the national guidance.

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