Maintaining Good Attendance

Pupils who maintain good attendance do better in school.

Pupils whose attendance falls below 96% are 20% less likely to pass their school assessments (such as SATs or GCSEs) and miss out on valuable social and enrichment opportunities. This is the equivalent of missing 8 days of school in a year.

Each day of school missed represents six lost lessons of learning, where pupils miss out on developing the crucial skills they need to succeed. Pupils need to be in school so that they can take advantage of every opportunity to develop the knowledge, attributes, skills and experiences they need to help them achieve.

Pupils with positive attendance will be eligible for rewards, perform better in their learning and increase their opportunities to aspire, believe and succeed.

Where pupils’ attendance falls short of expectations, we will identify concerns, work with families to help them to understand the impact of their low attendance and support pupils to improve. This could involve messages sent home, phone calls, parental meetings and home visits from our Educational Welfare Officer.

You will be informed of your child’s attendance at regular intervals, and you can view your child’s attendance at any point via ePraise.

Notifying us of Absence

We understand that sometimes absence is unavoidable, such in the instance of serious illness (e.g. sickness) or some medical appointments. Medical appointments should be booked outside school hours wherever possible.

In the event that your child is unable to attend school, you should notify us of the reason for absence before 8.15am by completing the form on our website/ePraise. If you cannot access the form, you should contact the school office on 01527 525725. Families may be required to provide evidence of absence where appropriate (e.g. a medical note from a GP surgery). The school will then decide whether to authorise this absence.

Click here to report an absence.

Holidays

Holidays should not be taken in term time. They will not be authorised except for in very exceptional circumstances, and the school may issue fines if an unauthorised holiday is taken.

For more information on requesting leave during term time, click here.