Winford Church of England Primary School

2026-27 term dates

The school year is 195 days and includes six in-service days used for staff training.

Term dates

• Term 1 – Monday 03 September 2026 to Friday 23 October 2026      
• Term 2 – Monday 02 November 2026 to Friday 18 December 2026    
• Term 3 – Monday 04 January 2027 to Friday 12 February 2027
• Term 4 – Monday 22 February 2027 to Thursday 25 March 2027
• Term 5 – Monday 12 April 2027 to Friday 28 May 2027
• Term 6 – Monday 07 June 2027 to Friday 23 July 2027                                         

Foundation, trust, academy and voluntary aided schools set their own term dates and may differ from ours.

Public holidays

Our schools will also be closed for these public holidays:

• Friday 25 December 2026 Christmas Day
• Monday 28 December 2026 Boxing Day (Substitute Day)
• Friday 01 January 2027 New Year's Day
• Friday 26 March 2027 Good Friday
• Monday 29 March 2027 Easter Monday
• Monday 03 May 2027 May Day Holiday
• Monday 31 May 2027 Spring Bank Holiday
• Monday 30 August 2027 Summer Bank Holiday

INSET Days

• Thursday 3 September 2026
• Friday 4 September 2026
• Friday 20 November 2026
• Friday 15 January 2027
• Monday 22 February 2027
• Monday 7 June 2027

Attendance

Please let us know if your child is unable to attend school due to illness or if they are going to be late. Whenever your child is absent from school, please let us know the reason via  email office@winfordprimary.com or by leaving a message on our Absence Line 01275 476580

If a child is absent, and we receive no explanation for their absence by 9.30am, we will phone to ascertain why they are not at school.  If you are having difficulties with attendance, please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss the matter with either the Headteacher or our pastoral support.

We are required by law to count any unexplained absences as unauthorised. A record is kept of a child’s attendance, including all absences, and is included in our annual report to parents. Figures for the whole school are reported to the Department of Education.

If a child is registered at school, parents have the legal responsibility for ensuring that their child attends regularly.

Medical Appointments (doctors, hospital, dentist etc.): Please inform us if your child has an appointment – parents are asked that, wherever possible, they remove their child from school for the minimum amount of time or make an appointment outside of school hours or in the holidays.

Lateness: The registers close at 9.00; children arriving after this time will be entered as late on the register. This is counted as an unauthorised absence. All children arriving late should report to the School Office.

Absence without explanation or authorisation: This will be classed as unauthorised absence and recorded in the register as such. Unauthorised absence could lead to the Local Authority issuing a penalty notice.

Requests For Absence/Holidays during term time: The Headteacher will only authorise leave of absence in exceptional circumstances and may require evidence to validate any request. Term-time holidays should not be booked, as they are likely to be unauthorised and could lead to the issuing of a fine by the Local Authority. Parents wishing to request leave of absence should collect a request form from the office and submit to the Headteacher for approval. An appointment can be made should you wish to discuss absence requests with the Headteacher – please contact the School Office for availability.

Penalty Notices/Fines Penalty Notices are issued by the local authority and require each parent of a child of compulsory school age, whose attendance has been unsatisfactory, to pay a penalty, currently £80.00 if paid within 21 days or £160.00 if paid within 28 days. If the Penalty Notice is not paid, the case is automatically summonsed to appear in Court. Courts have a wider range of sentencing options, which could include a maximum fine of up to £2500. See link below for further details.

Penalty Notice Leaflet Aug 2024

We celebrate the class with the highest weekly attendance in our weekly Celebration Collective Worship. 

If you require any attendance advice, please ask at the office. We will be delighted to help. Please read our attendance policy for full details.