Attendance

Good attendance and punctuality are vital for success at school, and to establish positive life habits that are necessary for future success.

Through regular attendance, pupils can:

• Build friendships and feel part of a community.
• Develop life skills and self-discipline.
• Engage in learning and enjoy academic success.
• Minimise the risk of engaging in anti-social behaviour or feeling isolated.
• We should not underestimate the importance of excellent attendance and being punctual. Even one day missed can have a negative effect on learning:

Table 1: Attendance over 5 school years for each pupil

Getting 90% in a test or examination would normally be considered a good result. In attendance terms, however, having around 90% attendance can have devastating consequences for a young person’s future. The government call this group of pupils persistently absent.

At The Vale Academy our goal is for all our pupils to have good attendance, even when they are experiencing challenging circumstances. Through effective support and working closely with families, we can ensure every child maximises their opportunities.

The minimum acceptable attendance rate for pupils is 97%. Our experience is that this level of attendance is achievable for pupils. In fact, many will exceed it, and some will maintain a 100% record over the entire academic year showing tremendous commitment to their studies. We have a vast network of support services to refer or signpost parents to so that they can receive the support they need.

As well have having good attendance, you also have a responsibility to ensure that your child arrives to school on time and stays in school during the day.

Being on time helps everyone and shows respect. The pupils will not miss out on any important messages or learning opportunities. Teachers can concentrate on teaching and learning strategies without having to catch up late comers and the flow of lessons remains uninterrupted. When pupils are late it impacts not just on themselves but on other members of the school community. Being on time is a simple way in which pupils can help to serve their school community.

Punctuality may seem like a small thing, and we very occasionally hear, for example, ‘she/he was just a few minutes late’, but it actually matters a great deal.

If a pupil is five minutes late to school each day they have missed three school days each year. Pupils often miss important messages and have an unsettled start to the day. It can lead to their confidence being undermined and in some circumstances to unacceptable behaviour because the pupil is struggling with the set work. This should help explain why being on time is so important.

Under Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 all children of compulsory school age (between 5-16) must receive a suitable full-time education. As a parent, you are responsible for ensuring that this happens, either by registering your child at a school or by making appropriate alternative arrangements. A parent who fails in this duty is guilty of an offence under Section 444(1) of this act.

Schools have a duty of care, shared with the Local Authority, to challenge poor attendance. Where attendance levels are low and where there are invalid reasons (as judged by the school and the Local Attendance Support Team, not the parent) for a pupil’s frequent absence or where parents condone absence (e.g. by taking children out of school on unauthorised leave of absence) then parents render themselves liable to a fine; the first penalty notice issued to a parent in respect of a particular pupil will be charged at £160 if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days.

If further unauthorised absence is observed, a second penalty notice will be issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil, and they will be charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days. A third penalty notice cannot be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within 3 years of the date of issue of the first. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time (or subsequent times) within those 3 years, alternative action will be taken instead. This will often include considering prosecution, but may include other tools such as one of the other attendance legal interventions like an education supervision order overseen by a magistrate’s court or a parenting order requiring parents to attend counselling and guidance programmes, usually a parenting class. If parents are prosecuted there is a maximum fine of £2500. Where parents fail to pay fines, or the law around regular attendance is repeatedly broken and previous legal interventions have been ineffective, parents can face a period of imprisonment. Ensuring regular attendance at school is important and the consequences of breaking the law are serious.

Although school has a responsibility to liaise closely with the Local Authority (LA) and provide information which may be required to support legal action, our aim is to prevent this from being necessary. At The Vale Academy we pride ourselves on our ability to support families and help young people thrive. We have the will and expertise to help and even in specialist circumstances where we are unable to help, we can signpost you to the right services and support you in this process. If you are experiencing difficulties with your child, and you haven’t kept school informed, please pick up the phone today and ask to speak with our DSL Ms Clark and/or our attendance lead Mrs Allen. We are here to help!

When a pupil is absent from school, this will be classified as either ‘authorised’ or ‘unauthorised’.

Authorised absences are only permitted for valid reasons such as:

• Serious Illness
• Medical appointments that cannot be made outside of school hours
• Religious observance
• Family bereavement for a close relative
• Self-isolation due to a transmissible disease that poses a risk to others

Unauthorised absences are those which the school does not consider essential or reasonable.

Unauthorised absences can include:

• Forgetting school term dates.
• Oversleeping.
• Arriving at school after the register has closed (at least 30 minutes late)
• Leaving without good reason during the school day.
• Truancy during the school day.
• Keeping pupils off school unnecessarily or without explanation.
• Day trips or family outings.
• Problems with uniform/clothing (school will be able to help)
• Birthdays and holidays.

Many pupils have time off school for illnesses that are manageable on the school site or with the help of over the counter medication e.g. headaches, colds, muscle pain etc.

If your child presents ill at home, please consider whether it is severe enough to need to miss important school time, and if needed you should go to the local pharmacy and ask for the appropriate medication.

If you then contact school with the required information, we can monitor your child and issue any medication in line with your instructions.

It is rare for pupils who take the positive decision to try to manage feeling under the weather through the school day have to be sent home, but of course if this is necessary school will contact you to make the necessary arrangements.

Often school can be a helpful distraction and although pupils may not always complete work to their usual standard, not missing out on the ideas they are exposed to in lessons is a great help when they are fully fit and well again.

Many pupils feel a huge sense of pride when they get to the end of the school day having successfully managed feeling under the weather and at The Vale Academy, we would commend them on their resilience.

There will be times when it is not appropriate to send your child into school. Serious illness is managed best at home. We would, however, expect that if your child is too ill to attend school that there would be a parent at home to take care of them.

If there is a pattern of previous absence school may well ask for medical evidence. This could be a doctor’s appointment, prescription or medication etc. If it is not possible to supply medical evidence school may send a member of staff around to your home to verify that the child is ill.

We know from experience that, rarely, some children will feign illness when they have another reason for not wanting to go to school which they are not comfortable talking about. This may be that they have fallen out with a friend or have not completed homework. Always take the time to talk to your child to try to establish whether the illness is genuine and please talk to us about difficulties. Avoiding them rarely helps! If there are no obvious signs or symptoms of illness, please send them in to school and let the school know that your child is potentially feeling ill or has been reluctant to attend school so that a member of staff can speak with them and monitor them throughout the day.

In the small number of cases where there is government guidance, parents should follow government guidance or seek advice from school.

• Encourage good attendance by speaking to your child about the importance school.
• Take an interest in your child’s schoolwork and find opportunities to give praise or reward attendance e.g. link attendance to the pupil’s pocket money or allowance.
• Make sure your child understands that you do not approve of absence from school.
• Inform us on the first day of your child’s absence before 8.30am and keep us updated on a daily basis throughout the absence period.
• Provide us with more than one emergency contact for your child, to ensure that if we receive no response from one number, we can try the others that you have provided.
• Cooperate with the school to make sure your child overcomes any barriers to attendance and always be honest about reasons for absence. Don’t be tempted to ‘cover up’ for your child.
• Discuss planned absences with the Principal and apply for permission well in advance.
• Only take your child out of school during term time where the absence has been authorised.
• Make as many appointments as possible outside of school hours, for example, dental appointments. If an appointment is unavoidable, provide school with evidence and work around the appointment to maximise attendance. For example, if a pupil arrived at school as normal, left at 10am and returned at 12.30pm then the child would have minimised what they have missed, and be formally present for both sessions. Always try to get them to attend before, and after, an appointment if possible.

• Ensure they pack their bag the night before.
• Ensure that their uniform is ready, especially after the holidays or weekends.
• Get them to bed at a reasonable hour to get a good night’s sleep – don’t let them take their phone to bed.
• Set the alarm clock early enough to give them plenty of time to prepare.
• Make sure they have some breakfast.
• Remind them to set off in the car, the train, the bus, or start walking early enough so that they are not late: punctuality is important (pupils on school site by 8.35am).
• Check to make sure they have everything they need – pencil case, books, PE kit, bus/train pass, lunch money etc.
• Talk to your child about what they did in school today.

If you are worried about your child’s attendance, please get in touch with the school and the Pastoral Team as soon as possible so that we can offer support.

No.

Taking holidays or a leave of absence during term time means that pupils miss important learning opportunities and other school activities. It will be difficult for pupils to catch up on work when they return to school.

Please ask for a ‘Leave of Absence Request Form’ available from the school office. If you think your child needs to be taken out of school, you should discuss the reasons with the school as soon as possible. The request should be rare, significant, unavoidable and short. The school must balance the request against the impact on the child and exceptional circumstances do not involve cheaper costs, family holiday patterns, availability of accommodation or weather conditions. You will be fined by the Local Authority if you take your child on an unauthorised leave of absence during term time without permission from the Principal.

We understand how tempting it must be to book a holiday in term time. Cheaper holidays (even taking the penalty notice into consideration), quieter destinations and it being easier to book time off from work are just a few of the considerations. However, you must consider the hidden cost. One or two weeks away from school can be devastating in terms of undermining learning. Learning is like building a house- a firm foundation needs to be laid and then skills and knowledge are layered like bricks. Each layer is critical to understanding what comes next. Miss some layers and learning stops making sense. Effectively there is nothing to hold the ceiling up by the time the pupil gets to the test or examination. This can result in pupils lacking confidence, losing the desire to learn, and feeling embarrassed about their test scores or not being able to complete the work. It can be the start of general disengagement and a loss of self-esteem. Over time, the consequences of a holiday in term time could lead to underachievement and lower SATs scores. Research, and our own experience, shows that missing just 8.5 days a year will lead to the pupil having half the chance of passing their SATs, on average, in every subject.

This in turn could become a barrier to career options and potential future earnings. The holiday might sound like a fantastic idea in the here and now but is it worth jeopardising your child’s future?

Parents/carers must notify the school by 9am or as soon as practically possible, by contacting either:

TVAAbsence@thevaleacademy.co.uk

or

01582 211150

and select option 1 from the menu.

In either case, you should confirm the name of your child, their year and form group, and the reason for the absence.

We encourage parents to make medical and dental appointments outside of the school day, however, where this is not unavoidable, pupils must be absent for the minimum duration of time possible (i.e. attending the school before and after the appointment unless at the very beginning/end of the day). Absence for other reasons will only be granted in exceptional circumstances at the Principal’s discretion.

On these occasions, parents/carers should notify the school with as much notice as possible, by either:

TVAAbsence@thevaleacademy.co.uk

Please include a photo or screenshot of the appointment confirmation if possible.

or

Call into the office and ask for Mrs Allen.

Please note you still may be asked for evidence of the appointment.

In either case, you should confirm the name of your child, their year and form group, and the reason for the absence.