11 September 2025

 

Dear Parent/Carer,

 

I would like to warmly welcome you and your child to the new academic year at London East Alternative Provision (LEAP). We are proud of the strong support we offer our students and we look forward to working closely with you to ensure your child’s success.

 

Attendance and punctuality

Every day in school matters. Good attendance and punctuality are the most important factors in a child’s progress. When children are absent or late, they miss learning and support that cannot be replaced. For this reason, we monitor attendance and punctuality very closely.

• If your child is not in school, we will call you by 10.00am every day.
• We ask for your full support in making sure your child is in school on time, every day.
• Poor attendance will be followed up by the local authority, which may include fines or court action.

 

Support for your child

At LEAP we provide a wide range of support so that every child can thrive:

• Small classes and strong relationships - we know our students well.
• Key workers and therapeutic support, including our own social worker, parenting support lead, and exploitation lead.
• SEND and Speech and Language Therapy, with access to educational psychology when needed.
• Extra literacy and reading support for students who need to catch up.
• Extended vocational courses for hands-on learners, alongside a broad academic curriculum.

This support is designed to help with behaviour, qualifications, life skills and long-term success.

 

 

Expectations for all students

• Students must be in school by 9.00am every day.
• Parents/carers must call the school if a child is absent or late.
• Regular attendance and punctuality are expected from every student.

 

We cannot provide the best education and care if your child is not with us.

 

Together, we can make sure every student at LEAP has the opportunity to achieve and to prepare for the future.
 

If there is anything you or your child need, please let their key worker know.

 

Thank you for your continued support.

 

Yours sincerely,


Astrid Schon, Headteacher
London East Alternative Provision (LEAP)

 

 

 

NHS Guidance - Is my child too ill for school?

Coughs and colds

It's fine to send your child to school with a minor cough or common cold. But if they have a fever, keep them off school until the fever goes.

Encourage your child to throw away any used tissues and to wash their hands regularly.

High temperature

If your child has a high temperature, keep them off school until it goes away.

Chickenpox

If your child has chickenpox, keep them off school until all the spots have crusted over.

This is usually about 5 days after the spots first appeared.

Cold sores

There's no need to keep your child off school if they have a cold sore.

Encourage them not to touch the blister or kiss anyone while they have the cold sore, or to share things like cups and towels.

Conjunctivitis

You don't need to keep your child away from school if they have conjunctivitis.

Do get advice from your pharmacist. Encourage your child not to rub their eyes and to wash their hands regularly.

COVID-19

If your child has mild symptoms, such as a runny nose, sore throat, or slight cough, and feels well enough, they can go to school.

Your child should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if they have symptoms of COVID-19 and they either:

• have a high temperature
• do not feel well enough to go to school or do their normal activities

 

Ear infection

If your child has an ear infection and a high temperature or severe earache, keep them off school until they're feeling better or their high temperature goes away.

Head lice and nits

There's no need to keep your child off school if they have head lice.

You can treat head lice and nits without seeing a GP. Let us know if we can support with treatments, which are commonly available in supermarkets and pharmacies.

Ringworm

If your child has ringworm, see your pharmacist unless it's on their scalp, in which case you should see a GP.

It's fine for your child to go to school once they have started treatment.

Scarlet fever

If your child has scarlet fever, they'll need treatment with antibiotics from a GP. Otherwise they'll be infectious for 2 to 3 weeks.

Your child can go back to school 24 hours after starting antibiotics.

Sore throat

You can still send your child to school if they have a sore throat. But if they also have a high temperature, they should stay at home until it goes away.

A sore throat and a high temperature can be symptoms of tonsillitis.

 

 

Threadworms

You don't need to keep your child off school if they have threadworms.

Speak to your pharmacist, who can recommend a treatment.

Vomiting and diarrhoea

Children with diarrhoea or vomiting should stay away from school until they have not been sick or had diarrhoea for at least 2 days (48 hours).