Attendance and Absence
Attendance
Regular academy attendance is a prerequisite of a good education and securing it is a priority. The damage and disruption caused by poor attendance and lateness affects not only the individual pupil but also adversely affects other pupils and teaching staff.
It is a parent’s responsibility, and their legal duty, to ensure that their child attends school. The vast majority of parents impress upon their children the value of punctual and regular attendance. We seek to work in partnership with all parents to encourage such values. Through good communication, the whole academy community will have a clear understanding of the academy’s policy and expectations regarding pupil attendance.
If a pupil is absent from the academy, and no message or information is given either in person or on the academy absence line, a designated member of Office staff will contact parents or carers to ascertain the reason. This may involve several calls to various contacts to ensure the child is safe and cared for outside of the academy. Should overall attendance fall below 90%, or there be other cause for concern, the academy will contact parents/carers by letter to inform them and, in many cases, offer a meeting with the attendance officer or other forms of support.
Contact will also be made if a pupil is often late for school to ensure the academy is supporting parents and carers in getting children to school on time.
Further details of register opening and closing times can be found on the page about our academy day.
Absence from school
The pupil’s parent/carer must notify the school of the reason for the absence on each day of an unplanned absence by 9am or as soon as practically possible by calling the academy office. Parents/carers must call the academy office number (01444 482524) where they can speak to a member of the office team or leave a voicemail on the Academy Absence Line, outlining the name of the child, reason for absence and likely return day (if known).
The academy completely understands that children get ill and recognises that parents are best placed to decide whether a pupil can attend school or not. The academy complies with the ’48 hour rule’ following incidents of high temperature, sickness or diarrhoea. Illness is recorded as authorised absence.
We actively discourage pupils being taken out of the academy for routine medical appointments, family visits and holidays. Authorising absence is at the principal’s discretion and is only granted in exceptional cases. Holidays taken in term time will be marked as unauthorised. Should this unauthorised absence reach a set threshold, the academy may choose to apply for a fixed penalty notice (fine) from the local authority.
For any planned absence, parents/carers must complete a 'withdrawal from learning' Form and return it to the academy office before the planned absence date(s).