Attendance

Attendance is one of the most crucial factors in determining your child’s success in education; quite simply, if they are not at school, they are missing out on learning time and the opportunities for social and personal development that a school setting provides. Students who have better attendance are proven to achieve better results and therefore have more choices available to them in further education and employment in later life. It also establishes good routines, habits and resilience that will stand young people in good stead for the world of work. Below gives clear guidance on the number of days missed and how that equates with student’s attendance percentage at the end of the academic year.

Attendance and Punctuality Support

It is a legal requirement for us to monitor attendance. Ensuring good attendance at school is a parental responsibility and we aim to work with families to ensure that this is achieved.

We will offer a raft of supportive interventions as required to help you and your child with our shared goal of good attendance including but not limited to:

• Form tutor support

• Pastoral Manager and Head of Year Support

• Attendance mentoring

• Attendance Clinics

• Parent and carer meetings

• Rewards in school for good attendance

Parents and carers can support with attendance by:

• Making sure their child leaves for school with plenty of time to arrive punctually and that they have the right equipment for the day

• Contacting the school to discuss any concerns regarding their child’s attendance

• Working in partnership with the school to resolve any issues that are impacting on their child’s attendance

• Making any medical appointments outside of school hours whenever possible. If this is unavoidable, ensure that your child is at school before their appointment and returns afterwards.

• Not taking children out of school for holidays in term time or for other unnecessary absences; holidays during term time will not be authorised and a penalty notice will be submitted

• Supporting and encouraging their child by attending Progress Evenings and other school events

If you have any questions about attendance, please contact your child’s Pastoral Support Manager in the first instance.

The NHS offer guidance on how to determine when your child is too unwell to send to school. This includes:

“It's normal for children to feel a little anxious sometimes. They may get a tummy ache or headache, or have problems eating or sleeping. Avoiding school can make a child's anxiety about going to school worse.”

“It's fine to send your child to school with slight cough or common cold symptoms, such as a runny nose, sore throat or headache, as long as they're otherwise well and do not have a high temperature.”

Attendance Actions

If your child’s attendance falls below the school target of 96%, it is highly likely that you will receive communication from the school, usually in the form of a letter regarding this. If your child’s attendance continues to decrease, we will then write requesting medical evidence for any further absences to prevent them being unauthorised.

The government define ‘Persistent Absence’ as a student with attendance of below 90%. If a student finishes the academic year at 90%, they have missed on average, half a day’s school every week and we want to ensure that your child does not fall into this category; it would have a significant impact on their achievement at school, but also potentially make it more difficult for them to be successful in employment beyond school. We will be in contact with you if your child falls into this category and work together to help improve their attendance. As a last resort we will, if necessary, refer parents and carers to the Local Authority for Penalty Notice if all other options have been exhausted.

Punctuality

Good punctuality is also vitally important, not only as a life skill, but also to ensure that students are not missing out on educational activities and important information that is disseminated during tutor time.