Absence from school

Good attendance is essential if students are to make progress. We expect all students to attend school every day, on time. If your child is ill, however, please contact us on 01298 811878. Please leave a message giving your child’s name and tutor group and the reason for absence. Alternatively, you can send an email to attendance@chapelhigh.org.uk.

The NHS has put together some guidelines and advice to help parents to decide whether or not to keep a child off school when they are unwell, you can view this information here.

If your child is ill during the school day they should report to Pupil Reception and we will contact you if we feel they are too ill to remain in school. If your child has a fracture or other injury, we would still encourage them to come to school if possible. We can make arrangements to support this, such as allowing them to work in our learning centre and providing access to the school’s lifts. Please contact the school office to discuss this.

Absence during term time

In order to maximise individual achievement parents should avoid taking students out of school during term time. With the demands of the GCSE syllabuses, some topics are only taught once and therefore, if absent, your child may miss essential elements of their learning programme. The school is only able to authorise a term-time absence in exceptional circumstances. Please note that guidance makes clear that holiday taken in term time will be treated as an unauthorised absence.

Authorisation of absence is entirely the school’s decision and not a parental right. In almost all cases where students are taken out of school during term-time without the school’s authorisation, parents will be fined.

You can view our Attendance and Punctuality Policy here.

If, in exceptional circumstances, you would like the school to consider a request for term-time absence, please complete the form below and return it to the school office a minimum of two weeks before the date of absence.