Information about the school day
The school day starts at 8.45am and ends at 3.15pm.  
Lunch is an hour, taken between 11:45am and 1:15pm depending on year group.

This amounts to a total of 32.5 hours per week.#

Punctuality
If your child is absent from school you must telephone the school by 9.00am on the first day of absence explaining the reasons.
Unauthorised absences are entered on the child’s report to parents at the end of the year.

The government have instructed schools to remind all families that, only in exceptional circumstances should children be taken out of school.

Full details are available in our attendance policy. Requests for permission should be addressed to the Headteacher.

We aim to open the school gates at 8.35am.  Please note teachers are not available in classrooms until 8.45am, and parents are therefore responsible for children until this time. From 8.40am all children can enter their classrooms for registration. Please do not escort your children into the classroom as it adds to the morning congestion. Lessons begin promptly at 8.45am.

The external school gates will close at 8:45 and any child arriving after this time will need to enter via the main office. They will not be marked late until 8:55.

If it is bad weather in the morning the children can be taken straight to the classroom door, no earlier than 8.40am, and the class teacher will be there ready to receive the class.

Lateness 
The school’s guidelines to parents on lateness are as follows:
Children will not be marked late until 8:55.  If your child is late for school please enter the school via the main office (not classroom). Parents must sign each child in.

Absence due to Illness
On the first day that your child is ill, please contact the school office on 01233 622673 and choose Option 0, to report your child ill to our Family Liaison Officer. This can be emailed in via: absence@kingsnorth.kent.sch.uk.
The reason for absence will be noted. If a child is absent and a message has not been received, the Family Liaison Officer will ring to discuss the reasons for absence with you. 

The following guidelines should be followed to ensure infection or illness is not passed on to other children:

Vomiting or diarrhoea – keep off for at least 48 hours after the last episode.
Chickenpox – keep off until the last batch of spots have crusted over - usually 5 days.
Measles – keep off for 5 days from the onset of the rash.
Mumps – keep off for 5 days from the onset of swollen glands.
Impetigo – keep off until the lesions have crusted over or 48hrs after starting antibiotics.

A comprehensive guide for parents is available from the school office or look at Health Information link on the website.

Absence due to Holiday/other Circumstances

There have been changes in the practice to the ‘absence and leave’ policy, following announcements from the DfE that NO holiday should be granted as ‘authorised’ by schools.

If you want to remove your child from school for leave you are required by law to request permission for authorised absence in advance.

Please note, you should not book leave for your child before you have received written agreement from the school. After you have submitted your request for absence, the school will consider your reasons and will make a decision with consideration of the following: 

Schools will never normally authorise leave in term time under the following circumstances:

• At the beginning and end of school terms; due to the impact on class relations
• No leave will be granted in May owing to SATs tests and formal school assessments.
• Overall attendance pattern of the child e.g. persistent absence, any other leave granted
• (overall attendance needs to be 96% or over for leave to be granted – this is a nationally acceptable figure)
• Where the child is persistently absent, including because of ill health (25 days absence in the previous school year or where there have already been 5 or more days absence in the current school year)
• The length and purpose of the leave requested
• The potential impact on the child’s learning and progress

Requests for permission should be addressed to the Headteacher.

The Department for Education and our Governing Body monitor all absence from school. The Governors of this school have agreed that a maximum of 5 days maybe granted in any one academic year.

Our school expectation is that children are present in school for 100% of the time.The Department for Education says they expect children to have a minimum of a 97% attendance record in a year. If a child falls below this during the year they may be referred to the Education Welfare Officer and subsequent penalty notices may be issued. In addition, if a child’s attendance falls below particular levels at the end of each half term, then they may be placed on the schools ‘Persistent Absentee Register’ which is shared with the school’s Education Welfare Officer.

Absence due to an Appointment

The school understands that it may be necessary to take a child out of school for an appointment e.g. GP, paediatrician, dentist, orthodontist etc. during the school day.  We would ask parents to try to minimise the number of appointments and to write informing the school of the appointment in advance. This means that when a parent arrives to collect a child all staff have prior warning that the appointment is taking place. The school and Governors thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

Penalty notices will be changing in the future and this will be reflected in our updated policy. These changes will take effect from 19 August 2024.