BORDEN GRAMMAR SCHOOL ATTENDANCE POLICY

Principles

At Borden Grammar we want every pupil to have the chance to fulfil all the outcomes of Every Child Matters as follows:

·         to be healthy

·         to stay safe

·         to enjoy and achieve

·         to make a positive contribution

·         to achieve economic well-being

To achieve these outcomes pupils need to be in school regularly and have full access to the curricular and extra-curricular opportunities the school provides.

Our aims at Borden Grammar are to operate clear procedures for attendance and registration and by providing information and working in partnership with parents to achieve high rates of attendance and punctuality for all pupils.

Legal Requirements

Parents have a legal obligation to ensure that their children attend school regularly and punctually.  Children should be at school, on time, every day the school is open, unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable.  Permitting absence from school without a good reason is an offence by the parent.

The school has a legal requirement to register pupils for every half-day session.  Any absence from school has to be classified by the school, (not by the parents), as either authorised or unauthorised. This is why information about the cause of each absence is always required, in writing.

Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from school for a good reason like illness or other unavoidable cause.

Unauthorised absences are those, which the school does not consider reasonable and for which no permission has been given. These include:

·         parents keeping children off school unnecessarily

·         truancy before or during the school day

·         absences which have never been properly explained

·         children who arrive at school too late to get a mark

Roles and Responsibilities

The School will:

·         Register pupils accurately and efficiently

·         Contact parents or carers when reasons for absence are unknown or unauthorised

·         Monitor pupil attendance and lateness regularly and communicate concerns to parents or carers promptly

·         Encourage good attendance and punctuality through the rewards and sanctions policy

·         Provide school attendance statistics to the Local Authority and the Governing Body

·         Support parents or carers at an early stage if problems over attendance arise

·         Follow up unacceptable levels of absence through the involvement of the School Welfare Officer and the Local Authority as necessary

·         Provide appropriate learning support for pupils absent for long periods because of ill-health

Parents and carers should:

·         Ensure the child attends school regularly and punctually

·         Inform the school on the first day of non-attendance

·         Provide a written note to account for all absences and a medical note for extended or repeated periods of absence

·         Discuss planned absences with the school in advance (e.g. family holidays, special occasions)

·         Keep to a minimum the occasions when pupils will miss all or part of the school; day (e.g. by endeavouring to arrange medical appointments outside school hours)

Pupils will be encouraged to:

·         Attend regularly and punctually

·         To communicate promptly with form tutors when problems arise over attendance

·         To deliver absence notes from parents promptly

School Attendance Targets

The school expects all pupils to achieve a minimum of 92% attendance unless there are long-term medical problems preventing this.

Procedures

1.      Daily routines

·         Pupils should register in their designated form rooms at 8.45 a.m. and 2.05 p.m. each day

·         If they arrive after the register has been called then they will be marked as late by the form tutor

·         If they arrive after the register has been taken to the Office then they must sign in using the late book in the entrance hall, indicating time of arrival and reason for lateness.

·         In line with DCSF guidelines, the registers will be considered closed 30 minutes after the official registration time.  Late arrivals after this will be counted as absences.

·         If a pupil is absent from school, parents should contact the school before 9.30 a.m. on 01795 424192.

·         If pupils have a reason to be absent from registration (e.g. for an agreed activity elsewhere in school,) they should endeavour to notify form tutors in advance and certainly at the earliest opportunity after the missed registration

·         Following an absence, parents or carers should inform the school in writing of the reason.  Letters should normally go to the form tutor.

2.      Planned Absences

·         Permission for absences for medical appointments etc (when these cannot be arranged out of school hours) should be requested by letter in advance.  The letter should be addressed to the pupil’s Head of Year.  A note permitting absence will be given to the pupil, which can be shown to agencies checking for truancy during the school day.

·         If pupils need to leave during the school day (e.g. for a medical appointment), having obtained permission, they should sign out in the entrance hall.

·         Permission for absences for family holidays should also be requested in a note to the pupil’s Head of Year.  The school is not obliged to permit such absence, but may authorise up to 10 days in one school year.  Permission will not normally be granted when regular attendance has already fallen below 95%, nor will it be given if it would mean the pupil missing SATS or other public exams.

·         If an absence occurs because of an emergency (e.g. a bereavement) parents or carers should notify the school at the earliest opportunity and confirm the reason for the absence in writing on the pupil’s return to school.  In such cases, or after long spells of absence, the Head of Year will be able to offer support to the pupils returning to school.

School response to pupil absence

·         If a pupil is absent and no phone call has been received, the attendance officer will phone parents or carers on the day to notify them

·         If a pupil returns from an absence and no note of explanation is received, the attendance officer will write to parents or carers requesting a written explanation of the absence.

·         The attendance officer will collate information regularly and work with Heads of Year to identify concerns over attendance and/or lateness.

·         If pupils are late three times in a term (i.e. a 6 week period) they will receive a lunchtime detention.  Each subsequent late in the same term will incur a further lunchtime detention.  Six lates in a term will incur an after school detention. If a pupil is late more frequently than this, the Year Head may inform parents or carers.  If problems continue, the issue may be referred to the School Welfare Officer and be dealt with as for poor attendance – see details below.

·         If attendance drops below 92% in any one term for reason other than long-term health problems (supported by a medical note), the Head of Year may write to parents or carers inviting them to come into school to discuss the issues. The School Welfare Officer may be invited to attend if appropriate. Attendance will then continue to be monitored.

·         If attendance remains below 92% thereafter, the School Welfare Officer will be informed. The School Welfare Officer may be invited to attend if appropriate.

·         If there is continued deterioration in attendance to 85% or below, the School Welfare Officer will arrange a home visit to discuss concerns and offer support where appropriate

·         If the situation remains unresolved, the School Welfare Officer will advise the parents or carers that the school may apply for a penalty notice or refer the matter to the Local Authority Welfare Officer who may begin legal action.

·         If attendance drops to 80% or lower, in all cases, the Local Authority Educational Welfare Officer will be informed and may begin legal action regarding parents’ or carers’ failure to ensure a pupil’s attendance at school.

Support Available

·         Minor problems that may deter a pupil from attending school should be brought to Form Tutors or Year Heads at the earliest opportunity.  They can generally provide the support to overcome the problem.

·         If problems continue, Year Heads and Heads of School will be able to meet with parents, carers and pupils to discuss ways forward.

·         Alternatively, parents or carers may wish to contact the Local Authority Educational Welfare Officer themselves to ask for help or information. They are independent of the school and will give impartial advice.  Their telephone number is available from the school office or by contacting the Local Education Authority.

It is always the School’s intention to work with parents to provide support to resolve problems at an early stage.  When schools and parents work in partnership, most attendance issues can be satisfactorily resolved without recourse to penalties or Local Authority involvement.