Attendance/Absence
We expect all our students to have good attendance at school. This means they should be in at least 96% of the time. If a student is not at school, then we cannot keep them safe. For this reason we robustly challenge poor attendance in a number of ways;
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Parents and carers must report all student absence the first day of absence and each subsequent day of absence. This must be done by telephoning the school on 0161 250 3101 and selecting option 1. A clear reason for the absence must be provided (i.e reporting that they are simply ‘unwell’ is unacceptable) along with an estimation of when they will be returning to school.
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Any student absence that is not reported to the school, will be challenged by a telephone call or home visit by a member of staff.
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If we are unable to ascertain a reason for the absence, it will be recorded as an unauthorised absence.
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Students who have 5% or more unauthorised absences at any point in the school year, may be referred to the local authority with a recommendation of fixed penalty notice or legal prosecution procedures.
Holidays and trips during term time
Families whose children are absent from school outside of the school holidays, due to a holiday or other similar event, will be issued with a fixed penalty notice of a minimum of £60. Parents who believe the absence is exceptional and wish it to be authorised must notify the school in advance and request permission from the headteacher for the absence. School will not provide work for students who miss school for these reasons, nor will they provide ‘catch up’ work on their return.
Absence due to sickness
Students who are unable to attend school due to a medical need will have all reasonable and proportionate absences approved. However, if we feel the amount of time a student has taken off due to sickness becomes disproportionate we will insist on medical evidence, by way of an appointment card or letter from a GP, before we approve any other illness related absence. If this is the case parents will first be notified via letter that this decision has been made. If after this letter, medical evidence is not provided, all absence related to sickness will be unauthorised and be eligible for a referral for a fixed penalty notice or legal prosecution.
Encouragement and Rewards for Good Attendance
Throughout the year there are several opportunities to reward good attitudes to attendance. Whilst we recognise that there are some factors influencing a child’s attendance which may be out of their own control, we do not believe that this should take away from those students who do achieve good attendance. All rewards and celebrations are at the discretion of the SLT team and the student’s Head of Year and therefore a child who has attendance below 96% will never be automatically disqualified from rewards and celebrations.
Punctuality to School
Students arriving late to school create a worrying disruption to not only their learning but also the learning of others in their classes. Missing even just a few minutes of a lesson has a significant impact on everyone, including the teacher in the class, as the lost learning has to be caught up, or the difficulty in understanding that this creates for a student can lead to disruptive behaviour. For this reason we have a firm stance on punctuality to school; students arriving late to school will receive sanctions.