Attendance & Absence

Please contact us as early as possible on the first day of your child’s absence from school, and again on any subsequent days.  In order to safeguard your child, we need parental confirmation for every day of absence.

To report an absence:

Call: 01924 282740 and then press ‘1’ for attendance. Alternatively please email attendanceofficers@horbury.accordmat.org.

Our Attendance Coordinator and Education Welfare Officer undertake regular visits to the homes of absent students in order to offer support and to confirm that absences are genuine. Please contact our Attendance Coordinator on 01924 282740 if you require any support with your child’s attendance.

We understand that children get ill, but there are many minor illnesses which do not require an absence from school. These include colds and issues which can be managed with painkillers such as stomach aches, sore throats, headaches and period pains. Students are not required to stay off for 48 hours following an episode of vomiting where it is not due to infection.

We ask that, where possible, appointments are arranged outside of school hours. However, we understand that this is not always possible. We will allow students to leave school to attend their appointment but ask that they return to school afterwards. We ask that we are notified in advance of any upcoming appointments. This can be done by telephoning our attendance team on 01924 282740 then pressing ‘1’ for attendance. We also ask that a note be provided from home or an appointment letter/card to confirm the appointment.

We use an automated absence notification system which uses text messaging and MCAS messaging to advise parents/carers if pupils are absent from the academy without notice – this message is sent out during the course of the morning. This ‘First Day Response’ is done for any pupil expected to be in the academy but has not been marked as present.

This messaging system is NOT an alternative to parents advising the academy that their child will be absent. All parents/carers are still required to inform the academy of pupil absences on the first day by ringing the absence line.

Parents should ensure that they do not take their children out of school on holiday during term time. If this is unavoidable then a request in writing or via email to the Education Welfare Officer is required in advance – please see our ‘Holidays in Term Time’ page for full information.