Attendance Guidelines
Attendance Guidelines
Every half-day absence from school has to be classified by The Academy (not by the parents), as either AUTHORISED or UNAUTHORISED. This is why information about the cause of any absence is always required, preferably in writing.
Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from The Academy for a good reason like illness, medical/dental appointments which unavoidably fall in school time, emergencies or other unavoidable cause.
Unauthorised absences are those which The Academy does not consider reasonable and for which no “leave” has been given. This type of absence can lead to the Local Authority (EWS) using sanctions and/or legal proceedings. This includes:
• Parent/carers keeping children absent unnecessarily.
• Truancy.
• Absences which have never been properly explained.
• Children who arrive at The Academy too late to get a mark.
• Shopping, looking after other children or birthdays.
• Day trips and holidays in term time which have not been agreed.
• Excessive illness without medical evidence.
• Truancy.
• Absences which have never been properly explained.
• Children who arrive at The Academy too late to get a mark.
• Shopping, looking after other children or birthdays.
• Day trips and holidays in term time which have not been agreed.
• Excessive illness without medical evidence.
Whilst any child may be absent because they are ill, sometimes they can be reluctant to attend. Any problems with regular attendance are best sorted out between The Academy, the parents and the child. If your child is reluctant to attend, it is never better to cover up their absence or to give in to pressure to excuse them from attending. This gives the impression that attendance does not matter and usually makes things worse.
Persistent Absence (PA)
A student becomes a ‘persistent absentee’ when they miss 20% or more schooling across The Academy year for whatever reason. Absence at this level is doing considerable damage to any child’s educational prospects and we need the fullest support of parents to tackle this. We monitor all absence thoroughly. Any case that is seen to have reached the PA mark, or is at risk of moving towards that mark, is given priority and you will be informed of this immediately.
Absence Procedures
If your child is absent you must:
• Contact us as soon as possible on the first day of absence.
• Send a note in on the first day they return with an explanation of the absence – you must do this even if you have already telephoned us.
A student becomes a ‘persistent absentee’ when they miss 20% or more schooling across The Academy year for whatever reason. Absence at this level is doing considerable damage to any child’s educational prospects and we need the fullest support of parents to tackle this. We monitor all absence thoroughly. Any case that is seen to have reached the PA mark, or is at risk of moving towards that mark, is given priority and you will be informed of this immediately.
Absence Procedures
If your child is absent you must:
• Contact us as soon as possible on the first day of absence.
• Send a note in on the first day they return with an explanation of the absence – you must do this even if you have already telephoned us.
· It is expected that as students get better from illness but are not well enough for the rigours of school, they will access work via FROG or by using their log-ins for the following websites to which The Academy subscribes;
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If your child is absent we will:
• Telephone or text you on the first day of absence if we have not heard from you.
• Invite you in to discuss the situation with a Student Manager, Vice Principal or Principal if absences persist.
• Refer the matter to the Education Welfare Officer if attendance moves below 87%.
Lateness
Poor punctuality is not acceptable. If your child misses the start of the day they can miss work, and miss getting vital information and news for the day. Late arriving students also disrupt lessons and can be embarrassing for the child and can also encourage absence.
How we manage lateness:
The Academy day starts at 8.15 a.m. and we expect your child to be in class at that time. Registers are marked during lesson 1 and your child will receive a late mark if they are not present at 8.15 a.m. If your child has a persistent late record you will be asked to meet with the Student Manager to resolve the problem, but you can approach us at any time if you are having problems getting your child to The Academy on time.
Exceptional Leave:
Taking holidays in term time will affect your child’s schooling as much as any other absence and we expect parents to help us by not taking children away during term time. Remember that any savings you think you make by taking a holiday during term time are offset by the cost to your child’s education.
There is no automatic entitlement in law to time off in term time to go on holiday.
• It is widely known that the link between a student’s attendance and achievement is irrefutable.
• Early poor attendance habits follow through to employment.
• All Hillingdon schools are encouraged to adopt a policy of not authorising Exceptional Leave. Outstanding cases remain as a personal decision of the Principal to authorise (max 10 days only).
• Exceptional Leave will always be refused in Years 9, 10 and 11.
• Exceptional Leave will always be refused when a student’s attendance is less than 92.4%.
• Exceptional leave will always be refused when The Academy is aware of any truancy.
• Exceptional Leave will always be refused when requests are regular (annual) or when patterns become identifiable.
• Reasons for Exceptional Leave should be logged as part of the transfer/transition process.
• The Education Welfare Service can issue Fixed Penalty Notices for any unauthorised absence.