Attendance

Attendance & Absence

Children will be registered in class, by their teachers, at the start of the morning sessions and afternoon sessions.

• Where children arrive within the first 30 minutes of a session, they will be coded as late in the register using the L code

• Where children arrive after the first 30 minutes but within the course of the session, they will be coded as unauthorised in the register using the U code

• If a child has 10 unauthorised absence marks in the register (5 whole days) the Educational Welfare Officer will be contacted by the academy

• The academy and Educational Welfare Officer will ensure that parents whose children are consistently late are made aware of the need for punctuality and court proceedings will be started at the academy’s and EWO’s discretion

Attendance

The expected level of attendance is 96%. Half termly meetings are held with the Education Welfare Officer. At each meeting all children with a low attendance will be discussed to ascertain the reason.  If your child has medical issues then of course this will be taken into account. However, we would like to see evidence of medical appointments so that a record can be kept.

• Records of lateness will be kept and parents/carers will be informed by letter if their child is late on a number of days. The reasons for lateness will then be addressed further

• When children are unwell or attending valid appointments the academy will require parents to tell office staff, either by phone or in person that their child is unable to attend school and a reason for this absence will be noted. The academy will request that medical appointments are made out of school hours. Where this is not possible, parents will be asked to produce an appointment card pertaining to the absence

• If office staff have not been contacted regarding a child’s absence by 10.30am, the academy will operate a first day calling system whereby the parents of all children marked as absent in the register will be contacted by phone and asked why the child is not in school

• If a child has 10 or more unauthorised absence marks in the register (5 whole days) the Educational Welfare Officer will be contacted by the academy and court proceedings will be started at the academy’s and EWO’s discretion

• The academy and Educational Welfare Officer will review all attendance data and figures half termly. Parents with persistently absent children, or children whose absences seem to follow distinct patterns, will be contacted and asked to work with the academy to improve their child’s attendance

Promoting good attendance

The academy will utilise face-to-face meetings and written correspondence in order to promote good attendance.

• Each week the name of the class with the best attendance figure will be published in the academy’s newsletter

• A weekly reward is given to the class with the best attendance

• Children with 100% attendance will receive certificates at the end of each term