Introduction

Good attendance at school is possibly the most fundamental requirement for a successful education. For a student poor attendance certainly results in under achievement and frequent absence can result in serious consequences such as lack of confidence in learning and problems with self-esteem and friendships. In Willingdon Community School every child matters and the school does all it can to support students’ good attendance through the practices and strategies described in this policy document.

Good attendance can only be achieved through a partnership between school, home and the student. Each element in this partnership has to play its part. For the school, the first duty of all Class Tutors and teachers is to keep a regular and accurate register of attendance and to notify the Director of Student Progress when there are concerns. This document describes the additional systems in place in school to support good attendance and the actions prescribed to remedy poor attendance. It is the parents’ ultimate responsibility to ensure that their children attend school and this document describes the school’s strategies for keeping parents informed about their children’s pattern of attendance and the strategies, including contact with the education welfare service and other outside agencies, that the school puts in place to help parents with their responsibility. Finally, it is the student’s responsibility to follow the school rules regarding attendance – to register in the tutor group and class, and to sign in and out if arriving at school at times outside the normal timetable.

The systems described in this policy are subject to change. Strategies for improving attendance are evolving all the time. The school works continuously with the EWS to develop strategies, improving communication with home and intervening when there are problems.


This policy has been written within the framework provided by the Education Welfare Service of East Sussex County Council – and should be read in conjunction with current Attendance Legislation and DFES guidance.

Parents

The school makes and takes every opportunity to explain to parents their legal responsibility for ensuring that their children attend school regularly and to urge that they should avoid all unnecessary absence. These include:

• A clear statement on attendance and the school’s expectations is given in the Parents’ Handbook on transition from Year 6 to Year 7, and in the Year 7 “Welcome to Willingdon” booklet.
• Regular reminders and airing of concerns are printed in the Contact newsletter.
• Every effort is made to contact parents on the first day of absence
• A clear statement of the school and the local education authority’s stance on holidays in term time is attached to all request forms (see Appendix 1).
• A statement of the importance of regular attendance is printed on all end of year reports – with actual attendance for each student given as % + number of sessions of unauthorised absence.
• Personalised letters are sent to parents whose child’s attendance record is causing concern.
• Personalised letters are sent to parents who fail to provide an explanation for a child’s absence from school (see Appendix 2).
• Referral to a Connexions personal adviser who will work with the student and family to improve attendance.
• Referral to Education Welfare Service, whose involvement in a case might range from home visits, attendance panel meetings with parents and a governor to supervision orders and court cases.

Teachers

The school emphasises to all staff the need for care and attention to detail when dealing with attendance issues and provides the following support:

• Clear guidelines on the taking of Registers and coding absences are given in the Tutors’ Handbook.
• The support of a computerised SIMS registration system and clerical staff who manage it. This includes first day of absence phone calls and the generation of letters to parents (Appendix 2).
• Open access to DoSPs and a senior member of staff who will advise on attendance problems.
• Regular discussion of attendance audits at Tutor Team meetings.
• The production of attendance statistics and analysis for reporting and other purposes.

Governors

• Attendance audits are provided for Governors at termly intervals and these are discussed at meetings of the Personal Development and Well-Being Sub-Committee.
• Attendance issues can be raised for discussion at the above Personal Development and Well Being Sub-Committee and new initiatives by the school are approved here.

Registration

Registers are completed in every lesson using SIMS Lesson Monitor. Registers taken by the Tutor in Lesson One and by the teacher in Lesson 6 need to be taken at the start of the lesson to help the Attendance Officer to track students and to make any necessary phone calls home. Registers taken in other lessons can be taken at any time but since Lesson Monitor will be used for passing on messages and reports about students, it is advisable to take registers as early as possible in a lesson.

It is the responsibility of staff without a tutor group to remain in the staffroom at morning registration times to cover registers for absent colleagues if necessary.

Teachers are required to keep truthful and accurate registers of their students’ attendance. Members of staff mark present those students who are in the room and mark absent those not present. In some rare cases a student may be register with a Director of Student Progress or senior manager. Under these circumstances the supervising member of staff, not the tutor, must register the student using Lesson Monitor.

Late arrival at school is recorded at Student Support for all students regardless of the reason. Directors of Student Progress apply sanctions for lateness. If a student arrives at school after 9.00am without a good reason, this will count as one whole session of unauthorised absence (i.e half a day). Late arrival can be authorised in cases of delay in the arrival of school transport or known appointments. The school reserves the right to adjust morning registration time for individuals, after discussion with EWS. Parents will be notified in writing in such cases.

Confirmation and explanation from parents is expected in all cases of absence. This can take the form of a telephone call to the school. Student Support staff will then communicate the reason for absence to the tutor using the sims.net medical report.

If a student has been sent home from school because of sickness the office staff will code the register accordingly.

If the school does not receive an explanation for absence on the first day, a letter of enquiry will be sent home. If an explanation is still outstanding after five days the absence will be coded as unauthorised.

In some cases where the DoSP and / or Educational Welfare Officer is closely involved in managing a student’s attendance, Tutors or Student Support staff may be advised to record absences differently.

Staff Roles in managing Attendance

Excepting the act of registering an attendance mark for every student in each lesson. Student Support staff undertake the administrative tasks of registration. However, Tutors and DoSPs are responsible for keeping aware of their students’ patterns of attendance and for intervening in cases where there is concern.

It is the Attendance Officer’s role to maintain an accurate record of student attendance using the SIMS system and to seek explanations for any absences, liaising with Tutors, DoSPs, the Deputy Headteacher i/c Attendance and the E.W.O. The Attendance Officer should alert relevant staff when there are concerns about poor attendance and draw up regular reports for the Deputy Headteacher, summarising attendance patterns throughout the school. These reports are then shared with relevant staff, governors and the EWO. The Attendance Officer carries out all the administration in support of the school’s Attendance policy, making absence phone calls, producing letters to send home, certificates and any other necessary paperwork.

It is the Tutor’s role to encourage students to maintain good attendance and to improve it where necessary and to inform the Director of Student Progress of any concerns.

It is the DoSPs role to maintain an awareness of the attendance patterns of the Year Group and the particular circumstances of students with attendance problems, intervening where necessary.

It is the Education Welfare Officer’s role to support the school in its work in improving attendance through regular analysis of attendance data and meetings with parents where necessary. The EWO will also initiate appropriate legal action in extreme cases of poor attendance.

Strategies for Continuing to Improve Attendance

The importance of good attendance is emphasised in the Student Planner and articles periodically appear in the home / school magazine “Contact” explaining the importance of good attendance and the school’s policies.

The “Red, Amber, Green” system aims to keep students aware of the status of their attendance. The codes are as follows:
RED -85% or below =unacceptably low attendance
AMBER -between 85% and 95% =cause for concern
GREEN -95% or above =satisfactory

Parents of students with Red attendance will be invited in for a meeting with the Director of Student Progress and the Attendance Officer and an Attendance Support Plan will be drawn up.
Students with Amber attendance will be monitored by their Tutor who will liaise with parents and the DoSP.
Periodic campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of good attendance are organised with the support of the EWS and the local police.

The school works in close contact with the Education Welfare Service. The Attendance Officer and the Directors of Student Progress hold regular meetings with the EWO to scrutinise attendance patterns. The school hosts meetings with the parents of students with poor attendance and alerts parents whose children are at risk of incurring penalties. If improvement is not made the EWS will take parents to court.

 

Willingdon Community School Policy regarding Holidays in Term Time

The DfES instructs schools to consider authorising holidays in term time only in very exceptional circumstances. Almost all holidays taken during Term Time will be coded as unauthorised absences. There is no entitlement for parents to remove their child from school for a family holiday during term time, even in circumstances where the parents’ employers refuse to grant holidays outside of the school term. The school is the only agency which can authorise such a holiday.

The reasons for this are as follows. Good school attendance is the most important factor in achievement at school and we are committed to helping every child achieve their full potential. Any absence from school disrupts a child’s learning. Missing lessons damages a student’s self-confidence and understanding. In addition, teachers who then have to slow down lessons to accommodate those who have missed previous sessions are not doing justice to the rest of the class who attended all the lessons.

Parents who wish to claim exceptional circumstances as a reason for taking holidays in term time should be given the school’s request Form and return it to the Attendance Officer at least fourteen days before the holiday.

The Attendance Officer should then refer the request to the Headteacher who will make a decision based on the following criteria:-
• Does the holiday period requested (including any previous holidays in the current year) total more than 10 days?
• Is the pupils attendance in the current year less than 90%?
• Does the requested holiday period coincide with any assessment or examinations?

If the answer to any of these questions is “Yes” then the holiday request must be denied.

If the answer is “No” then the following criteria will be applied:-
• Is the absence requested because the student wants to attend a specialist educational experience? (e.g. a music school?)
• Is the request made because of compelling reasons connected with family relationships?
• Is the request made for religious or cultural requirements?

If the answer to any of these questions is “Yes” the Headteacher will exercise his judgement and may permit the holiday request.