Winford Church of England Primary School

2023-24 term dates

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

Term dates

• term 1 – Monday 04 September 2023 to Friday 20 October 2023        
• term 2 - Monday 30 October 2023 to Wednesday 20 December 2023   
• term 3 - Thursday 04 January 2024 to Friday 9 February 2024
• term 4 - Monday 19 February 2024 to Thursday 28 March 2024
• term 5 - Monday 15 April 2024 to Friday 24 May 2024
• term 6 - Monday 03 June 2024 to Tuesday 23 July 2024                                         

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:

• Monday 25 December 2023 Christmas Day
• Tuesday 26 December 2023 Boxing Day
• Monday 01 January 2024 New Year's Day
• Friday 29 March 2024 Good Friday
• Monday 01 April 2024 Easter Monday
• Monday 06 May 2024 May Day Holiday
• Monday 27 May 2024 Spring Bank Holiday
• Monday 26 August 2024 Summer Bank Holiday

INSET Days

• Monday 4 September 2023
• Tuesday 5 September 2023
• Friday 20 October 2023
• Friday 17 November 2023
• Monday 19th February 2024
• Monday 3rd June 2024

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@winford.n-somerset.sch.uk 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 out of school hours or in the holidays.

Lateness: The registers close at 9.00; children arriving after this time will be entered as late in 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 £60.00 if paid within 21 days or £120.00 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 £1000.

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.