Absences due to illness
Please be sure to contact the school office (06257/970350) by 8:30 a.m. should your child need to stay home due to illness. To ensure a healthy learning environment for all students, faculty and staff, please be sure to keep a child home a minimum of 24 hours after the end of a fever, diarrhoea, or vomiting. Absences due to normal illnesses do not require a written medical excuse. You may either contact the office each morning to report your child’s absence, or simply provide an estimated return date.
If a child is not in school at snack time and there has been no prior communication about absence, the teacher /TA or secretary will call the parent to find out where the child is (using all parent emergency contact details.)
Medical excuses are required in cases of a contagious disease or infection/health condition (i.e., chicken box, scarlet fever, head lice). In such instances, the school office should be notified immediately so that a message stating the exposure to such illnesses can be issued to the families of the affected class, or the entire Primary. A medical release from the doctor must also be submitted upon the child’s return to school in such cases.
No medicines will be given to the children. If a child's health constitution requires medicine the child should stay at home.
Requested absences
Unlike Kindergarten which has voluntary attendance, school attendance is mandatory and regulated by the State of Hessen. Therefore, grounds for an absence must be defined in a request. Should a family need to ask for a leave of absence for the child, a written request must be filed as follows. For your information you can find the guidelines issued by Hessen for acceptable grounds for requesting an absence in the download section ( see “Hinweise zur Beurlaubung von Schülern”) Please be sure to submit a request along with any supporting documentation to the following parties as outlined below:
Absences lasting no longer than three days, not centred around an official school holiday
Class teacher’s responsibility: A written note/ letter to the class teacher stating the dates and reason for the absence should be submitted a few days prior to the planned absence.
Any of the above absences will be noted on your child’s semester/end of year report as “Missed Days” and “Authorised/Unauthorised”.
Absences of less than one day due to appointments/other personal situation
Class teacher’s responsibility: Some appointments cannot be scheduled outside school hours. In these cases, a written note to the class/ subject teacher a day or two before the early dismissal request will suffice. Be sure to mention what time your child will have to leave and who will be picking him/her up from school.
These absences will not be noted as a “Missed Day” on your child’s register.
Extended long weekends or absences tied to an official school holiday
Responsibility of Primary Headteacher in accordance with Schuldorf Director : The request should be submitted no later than four (4) weeks before your planned absence to the SISS Primary Secretary’s office. To avoid any unnecessary complications, it is advised not to book a trip until you have received a written approval for the extended leave. A copy of your request along with the management decision will be kept in your child’s records. The existence of an important reason is to be confirmed upon request by suitable means (i.e. certificates). Booked tickets or other travel arrangements are no reason for a leave of absence.
It is in the parents’/legal guardians’ interest to follow-up with the administration for the status of their request e.g. if notification has not been received after three weeks.
If no written approval from the school administration has been issued, and the absence is taken regardless, then it will be noted in the student’s report as an unauthorized absence.