St Paul’s High School Bessbrook. Attendance Policy INTRODUCTION Good attendance is essential if students are to take full advantage of school and gain the appropriate skills which will equip them for life. Our school aims to achieve good attendance by operating an attendance policy within which students, staff, parents and the Education Welfare Service can work in partnership. The school will monitor attendance and ensure quick and early intervention if a problem is identified. All staff will encourage punctuality and good attendance and pastoral staff will liaise with home and other agencies about a child’s attendance when this is appropriate. In St. Paul’s, good attendance will be seen as an achievement in its own right and recognised as such with awards such as certificates and prizes. THE SCHOOL’S EXPECTATIONS ON ATTENDANCE To ensure regular attendance, punctuality and high standards of uniform, St. Paul’s has the following expectations from pupils and parents. Pupils: • • •
that they will attend school regularly that they will arrive on time, appropriately dressed and prepared for the day that they will arrive punctually to each class on their daily timetable.
Parents: • • • •
that they encourage their children to attend school that they contact the office between 8.30 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. whenever their child is unable to attend; or send a note or fill in the absence record form in the pupil’s planner informing the form teacher of the reason for the pupil’s absence. that they ensure their child is wearing full school uniform that they ensure their child arrives in school well prepared for the school day with homework completed.
Pupils and parents can expect the following from St. Paul’s High School: • regular, efficient and accurate recording of attendance and time keeping • contact from the school when a pupil fails to attend and when no contact has been made from home within two days • early contact with parents when a pupil fails to attend without good reason and when there has been a pattern of absences or an excessive number of absences or lateness • immediate action on any problem notified to us, in confidence if necessary • positive measures to encourage good attendance
St Paul’s High School Bessbrook. Attendance Policy •
a high quality education
LESSON REGISTER To enable our staff to monitor school attendance on a class-by-class basis, St. Paul’s has developed a computer-based system called ‘Lesson Register’. This allows each class teacher to mark the register on their desktop computer at the beginning of each lesson using the following codes; /\ B C E F G H I L M N O P R S T U V W X Y * # ! -
Present: / = (AM): \ = (PM) Bereavement Suspended Educated off site Family Holiday (agreed) Family Holiday (not agreed) Other Absence Illness (not medical or dental appts) Late (before registration closed) Medical/Dental Appointments No reason yet provided for absence Other Exceptional Circumstances Approved Sporting Activity Religious Observance Study Leave Traveller Absence Late (after registration closed) Educational Visit Work Experience Only staff should attend Exceptional Closure Not on roll Holiday for all No attendance required All should attend/no mark recorded
At the beginning of each lesson, the class teacher will use Lesson Register to mark the attendance. Teachers can observe if a pupil has been present during the previous lesson and absent for the current one. In this instance, the teacher will contact the form teacher, or send an e mail if phone contact is not possible. The form teacher will follow up on the absence. A child should only be absent if the reason is "unavoidable." Every absence from school has to be classified by the school (not by parents), as either ‘authorised’ or ‘unauthorised’. This is why information about the cause of each absence is always required.
St Paul’s High School Bessbrook. Attendance Policy Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from school for an acceptable reason such as illness or other unavoidable cause. Unauthorised absences are those which the school does not consider reasonable and for which no permission has been given. This includes: • shopping • house sitting • ‘mitching’ • absences which have never been properly explained Providing a note may not be sufficient if the reason given is not "unavoidable.” POSITIVE MEASURES TO ENCOURAGE GOOD ATTENDANCE • registers will be completed accurately at the start of each day • The class teacher will monitor them at the beginning of each lesson. • they will be monitored daily by form teacher through Lesson Monitor • attendance and punctuality will be monitored regularly by Year Heads • prizes for classes with best and most improved monthly attendance. • certificates to pupils with annual 100% attendance and attendance above 98% in Key Stage 3. • discussion with Year Head & Education Welfare Officer where attendance falls below 85% • regular reviews and meetings with parents. • a high level of attendance will merit a strong and supportive reference from the school to future employers. PUNCTUALITY/LATENESS St. Paul’s places a great deal of importance on the need to be punctual and to arrive in school on time. Not only does it make for a good start to the day but also it shows consideration for every one else in the class and avoids disruption of teaching. All children who arrive in school after Registration are to be marked late. However, a different code will now be used in Lesson Register to differentiate between those who arrive during registration, and those who arrive after 9.00 a.m.. Any child who arrives after Registration (9.00 a.m. - 9.10 a.m.) will be marked ‘@’ on Lesson Monitor. Procedures to be followed in the case of persistent lateness will involve initially the Year Head and then the Education Welfare Officer. RESPONDING TO NON-ATTENDANCE AND THE PROCEDURE FOR LATENESS 1. If no note or telephone call is received from parents, the school will contact the parent via the child’s Pupil Planner. If there is no response a letter will be sent from the Year Head or a telephone enquiry made.
St Paul’s High School Bessbrook. Attendance Policy 2. In continued non-attendance or lateness the Education Welfare officer will be alerted by the Year Head and home visits will be carried out.
LEAVING SCHOOL PREMISES DURING THE DAY If a pupil needs to leave the school during the day, they may only do so by showing their form teacher a permission slip signed by a parent/guardian. This is contained in the Pupil Planner. Pupils will not be allowed to leave school unless this is signed by the Form Teacher or Year Head (if the form teacher is absent or unavailable). Any student who leaves the school premises without carrying out the above procedures will be deemed to be mitching school. •
Parents will be informed that their child is out of school without permission
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Pupil will receive one detention for each class missed.
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If pupil mitches an entire day, the Education Welfare Officer will be informed and parents will be invited for a meeting to discuss the issues raised. The pupil will receive one week’s detention.
Pupils are not allowed to text parents to come and collect them during the day. Matron can only grant permission to leave school in consultation with Form Teacher and/or Year Head, or in special non-medical circumstances, by the Form Teacher or Year Head. Pupils who leave school without permission (even if the parent is aware) will be registered as ‘Unauthorised Absence’ and will be sanctioned thus. (Code O in Lesson Register) Pupils who are leaving school with parental permission must be picked up inside the school grounds. Parents are asked not to wait across the road from the school. Pupils can only be picked up by a responsible adult. The school reserves the right to prohibit a student from leaving the school premises if there is suspicion about the person collecting the pupil, even if permission has been granted. MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS Where a child misses class because of medical appointments this will be recorded as ‘M’ in Lesson Monitor. PARENTAL REQUESTS FOR HOLIDAYS DURING TERM-TIME Permission for family holidays in term time can only be granted in exceptional circumstances where: •
the holiday is important for the well-being and cohesion of the family following serious or terminal illness, bereavement or other traumatic events (Code H in Lesson Monitor)
•
evidence is provided by an employer that leave cannot be accommodated during school holidays without significant consequence. (Code H in Lesson Monitor)
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The family is making a religious pilgrimage. (Code R in Lesson Monitor)
Where holidays are taken which do not fall into the “exceptional circumstances” category above, these will be recorded on Lesson Monitor as “unauthorized absence”. (Code O in Lesson Monitor) All requests for more than 10 school days holiday leave within the school year must be submitted in writing to the Year Head. When a pupil is withdrawn during term time, there is disruption to the learning process that can result in the pupil falling behind his/her group. There is a belief, amongst some parents, that this time can be made up by the school providing ‘work’ for the pupil to complete during the holiday period. However this does not have the desired effect since the pupil has missed out on quality teaching time. In general terms it is our policy that it is not be possible to provide your child with the work which is planned for his/her group during this period of absence. The teacher will, if possible, try to make up work that has been missed on your child’s return to school. If you wish your child to continue with some school type activity while on holiday may we suggest that he/she contacts a member of the class at regular times during the holiday. On return to school the pupil will be encouraged to work hard to compensate for the gap in their education. This may required the completion of additional work at home. CONCLUSION This policy has been formulated after consultation with students, staff, governors, parents, education, social work service and the Education Welfare Service. It will be reviewed every three years, or sooner if the need arises, so that changes, additions and amendments can be made after consultation with all parties.