Attendance and Absence
We want to support your child's attendance in school.
Please remember you can call 020 8648 9737 to speak to a member of the admin team between 8.30 – 4.00pm every week day if you would like some support.
Our Family Support Workers can be contacted for help too.
Our Family Support Workers are responsible for supporting families with issues that arise as a result of their child’s special needs, attendance, safeguarding, assistance for parents, advice between families and agencies and workshops for parents and pupils alike.
More information on Family Support Workers can be found here.
Parents and Carers are expected to:
● Ensure their child attends school every day and on time
● Contact the school to report their child's absence between 7.45-8.30am and each subsequent day of absence and advise the expected day of return by calling 020 8648 9737, or via email: absence@perseid.merton.sch.uk
● Provide the school with more than one emergency contact number for their child, with three numbers available in total
● Ensure that, where possible, appointments for their child are made outside of the school day
Please read our Attendance Policy 2023-24 for more information.
If you wish to request a leave of absence, please use this form:
Leave of Absence Form
Pupils should arrive for morning registration by 8.50am.The register will be taken and any students arriving after this time but before the register closes at 9.10am will be marked as late. Students arriving after the register closes will result in an absent mark or late mark being administered. Parents / carers arriving with students after 8.50am will be asked to sign their child in, stating the reason for lateness. If a pupil is absent the parent or carer should telephone school or email using the dedicated attendance email absence@perseid.merton.sch.uk between 7.45 and 8.30am to report the absence. At 9.10am, the Administrative Assistant at each campus will check registers, referring also to the daily absence list compiled by the administrative team member of staff on welcome duty. Between 9.10 and 9.30am, the Administrative Assistant will phone families identified (“First Day Contact ' i.e. families who have not provided an explanation for absence) to establish the whereabouts of the pupil. If contact cannot be made with the family, or an inappropriate reason is given for absence, the pupil’s absence will be recorded as unauthorised. The Administrative Assistant will repeat this process each day where necessary. Pupils subject to a safeguarding plan (CIN or CP) who are absent without explanation will immediately be referred to the Family Support Worker, who will assume responsibility for calling the family and alerting the relevant social worker.The Family Support Worker will also advise each day on calls she will make to families where a child is absent, with or without an explanation and where there are wider concerns of a safeguarding nature,such as a family struggling to cope with a child’s sleep pattern. The Family Support Worker, or any member of the safeguarding team, may ask the nursing team to make contact with a family who have expressed healthcare worries about their child, e.g being unable to secure a GP appointment.