Attendance

Regular attendance at school promotes pupil well-being, maximises progress in learning and helps pupils reach their potential. The attendance pattern for all children is monitored weekly with the school seeking to work actively with parents to ensure a regular pattern is maintained.

Good attendance is fundamental to a successful and fulfilling school experience. It is our duty to promote 100% attendance for all children. For our children to take full advantage of the educational opportunities offered it is vital that our pupils are at school, on time, every day the school is open, unless the reason for absence is unavoidable.

All children have the right to an education and we have put in place appropriate procedures to support this. We believe that the most important factor in promoting good attendance is development of positive attitudes towards school and learning.

Why is good attendance important?

• Statistics show a direct link between under-achievement and absence below 95%
• Regular attenders make better progress, both socially and academically
• Regular attenders find school routines, school work and friendships easier to cope with
• Regular attenders find learning more satisfying
• Regular attenders are most successful in transferring between primary school, secondary school, higher education and employment or training

How you can help your child attend regularly

• Making sure they understand the importance of good attendance and punctuality
• Taking an interest in their education – ask about school work and encourage  them to get involved in school activities
• Discussing any problems they may have at school and informing school
• Not letting them take time off school for minor ailments-particularly those which would prevent you from going to work 
• Arranging appointments and outings after school, at weekends or during school holidays will help to prevent disruption to your child’s education and to the school

What if my child is absent from the academy?

You should inform the academy on the first day of your child’s absence, so that an unauthorised absence can be recorded.

To report an absence please call the school office 01472231659 or send a message on MyEd.

How do we monitor attendance?

All pupils’ attendance is monitored daily and half termly using data analysis from the electronic register.

We expect children to attend school every day.  However, if your child’s attendance falls below 95% we have four stages of intervention;

First Stage – Phone call to parents to inform them of their child’s attendance figure and to encourage an improvement

Second Stage – A letter is sent home to parents highlighting the concerns and to remind parents that they are at risk of a penalty

Third Stage – the Education Welfare Officer holds a School Attendance Panel (SAP) meeting in school.  Targets are set with a timescale

Fourth Stage – A formal meeting is arranged by the Local Authority Panel (LAP).  This is held at the Town Hall, if there is no reason for the poor attendance, a penalty will be issued

 Any child with an attendance figure of 90% or below is classed as a Persistent Absentee (PA)