Why is attendance important?
Every day of education and indeed every lesson matters. In the National Curriculum where there is built in progression, children who are persistently late or absent soon get behind with learning and then do not understand current lessons when they return.
The introduction to a lesson and to the school day is crucial to the child’s understanding of their own learning. Children who miss school frequently will undoubtedly have gaps in their learning which will impede their progress and future ability to engage in lessons. This in turn has a knock on effect for their ability to concentrate and for their behaviour.
Frequent absence has a profound and cumulative effect on achievement.
Reporting absence
If your child is unable to attend the academy due to illness or other circumstances, please contact the office before 8.30am. If we have not heard from you by 8.30am, we will contact you directly. The academy is under obligation to report any unauthorised or continued absences to the Local Authority Education Welfare Service, who will then contact the family to discuss the reasons for the absences.
If your child is likely to be absent due to illness for longer than 5 days, please contact us. We will be happy to discuss any support needed to ensure they keep up-to-date with what is taking place at the academy. On your child’s return to the academy, we require a short note outlining the reason for the absence for our records and a doctor’s certificate if longer than 5 days which should be addressed to the academy office.
Illness is still classed as non-attendance. This is a standard set by the Department for Education. Therefore, if your child is consistently absent even due to illness the academy will be recording this against the total attendance figure. If this figure falls below 95% the academy will contact you to offer support and make you aware of the situation. If the figure for attendance falls below 90% this is classed as persistently absent and the academy will pursue a fine.
Holidays/Term Time Leave
We strongly discourage parents/carers from taking their children out of the academy for holidays during term time as it really does affect the continuity and quality of your child’s education. Holidays in term-time will never be authorised. If you need to take your child out of school for any reason, you will need to fill out a “Request for Leave during Term Time” form available from the Academy Office. Please understand that leave during term time is not a right and can only be granted by the Headteacher in exceptional circumstances.