Attendance

If your child is unable to attend school you must notify us each day your child is absent via The Class Charts APP preferably no later than 8.45 am with the reason why your child will be absent.  If we have not been notified of a reason for the absence, the school may contact you via Truancy Call, an automated messaging system.

If your child is to be absent for more than 3 days, medical documentation will be required for the absence to be authorised.  This includes:

• A photocopy of the medication packaging prescribed by the doctor or nurse or prescription
• A stamped appointment card
• A letter from the doctors’ surgery, consultant or hospital stating the date of the appointment or diagnosis

Reasons for Absence

Every half-day absence from school has to be classified by the school (not by the parents) as either authorised or unauthorised.  This is why information about the reason for any absence is always required.

Authorised Absences are mornings or afternoons away from school for a good reason and that are permitted under government guidelines such as illness, medical/dental appointments that unavoidably fall in school time, emergencies or other unavoidable causes.  Medical and dental appointments, where possible, should be made after school or during school holidays.  The school understands that this is not always possible, however, students should attend school prior to or following a medical/dental appointment and avoid a full day’s absence.  Medical appointments are an absence and must be recorded as such.

Unauthorised Absences are those, which the school does not consider reasonable and for which no leave has been granted.  This type of absence can lead to the school and the Attendance Compliance Team using sanctions and/or legal proceedings.  This includes:

• Parents/carers keeping children off school unnecessarily
• Truancy before or during the school day
• Absences which have never been properly explained
• Children arrive at school after the registers close at 9:30 am
• Shopping, looking after other children, birthdays
• Day trips and holidays in term time which have not been agreed

Only the School, not the parents can authorise an absence.

Attendance is calculated cumulatively across the school year and every fortnight, the Head of Year will identify students whose attendance falls below 96%.  A letter will be sent to parents raising the awareness of attendance together with an attendance certificate.  If attendance does not improve then parents are invited to attend a School Based Meeting to resolve any issues and to agree a plan to work together to improve attendance.

Any student who has attendance of less than 90% will be classed as a persistent absentee and we will require medical certification to authorise any further absences.

A further decline in attendance could lead to a referral to the Attendance Compliance Team at the Local Authority who may issue a penalty notice or instigate legal proceedings.

Where there is a specific medical issue resulting in regular absence from school it is important that you let your Child’s Head of Year know as soon as possible.  Please ensure that we are provided with medical documentary evidence of any medical condition, this can include a copy of the medication or prescription, stamped appointment card or a letter from a Doctor or Hospital.

Parents/carers are responsible for ensuring that their child arrives to school punctually.  Students should arrive at school no later than 8:40 am unless they are on a school bus and there is an unavoidable delay.  Registration begins at 8:40 am and form tutors electronically take the first register of the day.  Students must report to student reception to sign in if they arrive after 9:00 am.  Students arriving after the registers close at 9:30 am, without a legitimate reason, will be recorded as an unauthorised absence.  If a student needs to leave school early parents/carers must provide them with a written note to be shown to the Form Tutor.  The note must be also shown at student reception when the student signs out.  The school will contact you if we have concerns about punctuality and ask that you support our detention procedures regarding student lateness.

Lateness = minutes amount to days = lost learning.

Promoting Attendance

Staff and students at school are fully aware of the expectations surrounding attendance.  Good attendance is celebrated by awarding credits, certificates and is one of several criteria used to assess eligibility to attend the annual rewards trip.  Parents are able to view their child’s attendance on the Xpressions app.

Taking holidays in term time will affect your child’s schooling as much as any other absence and we expect parents to help us by not taking children away in school time.  Remember that any savings you think you may make by taking a holiday in school time are offset by the cost to your child’s education.  There is no automatic entitlement in law to time off in school time to go on holiday.

To apply for leave of absence please complete an application form and forward it to the school.  You can download a copy of the form at the bottom of this page.

Leave will only be authorised in the most exceptional of circumstances.

If the absence is not authorised and the holiday is taken anyway, the case will be referred to the Attendance Compliance Team who may issue a Penalty Notice for £120 (or £60 if paid within 21 days) to each parent for each child taken out of school.

Penalty Notices for term time holidays can be issued if:

• There have been 10 sessions (5 consecutive days) or more of unauthorised absence due to a holiday taken during an academic year
• There have been 6 sessions (3 consecutive days) or more of unauthorised absence due to a holiday taken during the first two weeks of September.

Please be aware if your request meets the above criteria we will apply to County for a penalty notice to be issued.