ATTENDANCE, BEHAVIOUR AND REPORTING

This section of the website provides information and advice for parents, carers, and pupils about school attendance. It contains guidance on the school’s attendance procedures, holiday requests during term time, and the Local Authority's legal requirements and powers regarding attendance.

We encourage you to contact us to discuss any issues your child is experiencing that may be impacting their attendance or to explore any support we can offer.

You can access information regarding your childs attendance, behaviour, and copies of school reports via the SIMs ParentApp. Tutorials and userguides to support downloading and accessing of the app can be found below.

If you prefer a video user guide on how to download the app you can access one here

Please see the details of our attendance team below should you have any issues related to school attendance. 

Mr D Griffin - Assistant Headteacher 
Mrs M Ragon - Senior Attendance Officer 
Mrs L Elliott - Attendance Officer.
Mrs England - Year Manager - Year 11
Mrs Evident - Year Manager - Year 10
Mr Hurd - Year Manager – Year 9
Mrs Woolley – Year Manager – Year 8
Mrs Pierce – Pastoral Assistant – Year 7

CONTACT

There may be times when your child has to miss school. If your child is ill, please contact the school on each day of their illness. Staff will be concerned if they do not hear anything.To inform us that your child will be absent from school or late, please contact us before 8:15 am using the absence link below.

Absence reporting

If your child is absent from school and you have not contacted us, you will receive a text message and an email requesting information about the absence. We ask that you reply to either message to inform us of the reason for your child's absence.

We request that parents and carers do this for child safeguarding purposes. 

MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS

We ask that medical appointments, such as dental, doctor, orthodontist, and hospital appointments, be made outside school hours. If this is not possible, we expect students to attend school beforehand and return to school once the appointment has concluded. 


MEDICAL EVIDENCE

​Types of Medical Evidence We Can Use to Authorise AbsencesAt times, it is necessary for us to request medical evidence from parents to allow us to authorise their children’s absences from school.

Below is a guide to what we will accept as medical evidence:

• GP/Dental appointment card with the date of the appointment attended

• Medical appointment letter

• Empty prescribed medication packet with the dispensing label attached

• Copy of prescription

• White return page of prescription (repeat prescription request)

• Medical letter*/certificate from a GP or medical professional advising that the student is unfit to attend school

• Compliment slip* from a nurse at the student’s medical practice confirming they are unfit to attend school

• For ongoing conditions that prevent a student from attending school, it may be necessary for us to request medical evidence advising that the student is unfit to attend.
  
  Please note that it is the parents’/carers’ responsibility to provide the medical evidence when requested by the school.
  
  The school will not request or chase medical evidence from GPs, consultants, dentists, etc.This must also state how long this will be for.
  
  PERSISTENT ABSENCE
  
  The link between attendance at school and success is clearly established, with higher attendance directly connected to better examination results. National average attendance data is around 95%, and the school considers good attendance to be 97%. A student with attendance below 90% will fall under the persistent absence category.
  
  To keep you informed, if your child’s attendance approaches the 90% threshold, the following actions will be taken:
   

• When attendance falls below 92%, a letter will be sent to you confirming your child’s attendance and requesting that future absences be supported by medical evidence (e.g., a copy of a prescription, medication, doctor's/dentist's/hospital appointment card, etc.).

• If attendance continues to fall below 90%, you will be contacted to attend a meeting at school to discuss the situation further.

• If there is still no improvement, it may be necessary to refer the case to the Local Authority.

• While we understand that there are occasions when students will have medical conditions that cause absence, we are keen to promote resilience to minor ailments, such as colds and sore throats, whenever possible. We know that time spent with high-quality staff in lessons is invaluable. The Department for Education (DfE) defines "Persistent Absence" (PA) as 10% absence. This means that anyone whose attendance falls to 90% or below is classified as PA. 
  
  PUNCTUALITY AND WHAT HAPPENS IF MY CHILD IS LATE FOR SCHOOL?
  
  Should your child arrive at school after 8:30 am, they will receive a “Late” mark on their attendance record for morning registration.
  
  Arrival after 2:05 pm at afternoon registration also results in a late mark.
  
  An accumulation of four late marks during a half-term will result in a 30-minute lunchtime detention on the day of lateness.
  
  Any subsequent late marks will result in a lunchtime detention being set on the same day.