Attendance Matters: Our Focus on Attendance

Our Focus on Attendance

Research has shown that regular attendance and good punctuality are crucial factors in students achieving their full potential in education. At St Anne’s Academy we wish to work in strong partnership with parents and carers to ensure we can achieve the best for and from everyone. This means we are seeking your full support in ensuring that your child attends school every day and on time. We are always pleased to work together with parents and carers in resolving any difficulties or barriers to learning but we are also committed to improving attendance levels at St Anne’s.

The target attendance figure for all students is a minimum of 97% attendance. Based on current attendance figures your child will be placed in one of the following groups below.

Your child will be informed of their Attendance Group by their Form Tutor on a regular basis. St Anne’s Academy are monitoring students closely whose attendance is falling and will contact you if your child’s attendance does not improve. As a parent or carer you are committing an offence if you fail to ensure that your child attends school regularly and punctually, even if they are missing school without your knowledge. It is important that parents and carers monitor single day’s absence, as these days soon add up to weeks.

At St Anne’s Academy we reward pupils who attend each day and whose attendance is improving. Students are also rewarded for good punctuality.

If you are concerned about our ‘Focus on Attendance’, there are important steps that you can take:

• Ensure your child attends school every day, on time, equipped and ready to learn. Lesson time begins at 9am. Remember, currently, Year 7, 10 and 11 students should arrive between 08.15-08.30 and Year 8 and 9 students should arrive between 08.30-08.40. Students are marked late if they arrive outside of their designated time.
• Ensure school has up-to-date addresses and telephone numbers. We will contact you by text or by telephone if your child is absent and you have not contacted the school. This ensures that truancy is quickly identified and helps us to safeguard your child.
• If your child is ill, contact the Academy on the first day of absence and provide an explanatory note on their return to school.
• If you wish to check that your child has arrived at the Academy contact the Attendance Officer(s), Angela Kenny or Nicola Grimshaw. They will inform you if your child has been registered.
• If no contact is received regarding the absence, it is recorded as un-authorised. Ultimately the Academy is responsible for deciding if the absence is acceptable or not. Only genuine absence will be authorised. You will be asked to provide medical certificates if your child has a poor attendance record which is below expected levels.
• Ensure that medical appointments are made outside of school time.
• Avoid trivial absence such as, ‘buying new shoes’ or waiting for a delivery. This would not be accepted as a reasonable absence.
• Holidays should not be taken in school time. Any Leave of Absence can only be agreed by the Headteacher and only agreed in advance where there are exceptional circumstances.
• Respond to letters or telephone calls regarding attendance and punctuality.
• Contact your child’s Form Tutor in the first instance if you are experiencing difficulty in getting your child to attend school regularly.

Thank you for working in partnership with us to achieve the highest possible levels of attendance and punctuality at St Anne’s Academy.