Attendance Information

Punctuality

Better late than never, but better never late!

Our school day begins at 8:50 a.m.

If a child comes to school every day at 9:05 a.m. they have missed 75 minutes of school education in a week which would add up to 7.5 hours each half term.

IN ALL CASES OF ABSENCE parents should please:

• Only keep your child away from school if they are visibly ill.

• Telephone school: every day of absence, as early as possible, please keep school informed.

• Avoid medical appointments in school time, but if absolutely necessary, please bring your child to school for the remainder of the day.

• Please provide medical evidence where possible, for any appointment, which will be kept confidentially on file to support your child’s absence.

• Ensure your child speaks to their form tutor upon return to school, they will be able to support them in collecting any relevant work.

Attendance

We have a target of 96% attendance for all students.

You can help your child achieve this by:

• Ensuring they arrive at school on time

• Trying to make hospital, doctor and dentist appointments outside school hours wherever possible.

• Not taking holidays during term time.

• 90% attendance sounds good – but that means 1 day off every fortnight: almost 4 weeks off every school year: over 1 school year in a child’s school career.

• Research shows that attendance of 85% or below will reduce G.C.S.E. results by at least one grade.

We aim to support families by:

• Encouraging good attendance and intervening promptly with unexplained absence.

• Rewarding good attendance and providing exciting and stimulating learning opportunities so children want to come to school.

• Working positively with parents in gathering and analysing attendance data regularly.

• Working positively with education welfare officers to support pupils.

Holidays

Wherever possible, school would like to encourage parents to take their children on a family holiday during the 13 weeks of school holidays each year. It is vital for children to be at school every day to maximise learning.

We understand the importance of families being together for their annual holiday – and the benefits this brings for the children. We also understand the difficulties some families have in taking their family holiday out of term time and would encourage parents to discuss these issues with us.

Government guidelines state that Headteachers can only grant leave of absence in exceptional circumstances but not normally for family holidays.

School will be unable to authorise leave of absence for family holidays during term time.

If you do take your children out of school, it is very important for families to formally let us know where children are.

If you need to discuss any matters during the school year regarding your child's attendance you can contact the Schools Attendance Support Officer Ms Steele at deborah.steele@dchs-alnwick.uk