Good pupil attendance at school is extremely important. The government considers 95% to be a level of attendance that most pupils should reasonably be expected to achieve each year. We know that those pupils who have high levels of school attendance and good engagement in lessons are more likely to achieve success at the end of Year 11 and a positive transfer to post 16 life either in education, employment or training.
The school has an Attendance Policy that outlines what we mean by attendance and our expectations, you can read this by clicking here. A summary of the points are as follows:-
- Pupils should attend school every day unless there is a legitimate and agreed reason for doing so.
- It is the responsibility of parents/carers to ensure that their child attends school.
- If a pupil is going to be absent from school then their parent/carer should contact the school at the earliest opportunity on the first day of absence (or sooner in the case of appointments, etc) so that the school can record the absence appropriately.
- If the school has not had notification of a reason for absence, then a text message will be sent to the parent/carer to remind them to contact the school.
- If absence persists then the school Casework Manager or the Educational Welfare Officer may become involved to support and encourage improvement.
- Continued unauthorised absence may lead to warnings or prosecution.
- Term time holidays will not normally be authorised by the school and may incur a fixed penalty fine.