Good attendance and punctuality are absolutely vital for each and every one of our students, not only for their academic achievement, but for their wellbeing, development of social skills and for taking part in wider opportunities such as extra-curricular clubs and trips.
Please note that even if an absence is authorised, it still affects their overall attendance %, because they are not in school, learning.
Your child will know their attendance figure, it is shared with them weekly and they record it on their tracker. Please have conversations with them about the importance of being in school, and congratulate them on positive and improving attendance and punctuality.
Good attendance at school is acknowledged as a major factor in students’ development. Poor attendance leads to disrupted learning and causes under-achievement. Therefore, we ask that parents make every effort to ensure their children’s attendance is as high as possible.
Article 28 of the UN Convention on the rights of the child.
Students who miss between 10% of school (that’s 20 days per year) stand only a 35% chance of achieving five or more good GCSEs, compared to 73% of those who miss fewer than 5% of school days.
Approximately 76 million children across the globe do not have access to education.
Count yourself lucky.
Come to school.
Persistent Absence is classed as any absence that equates to over 10% of the academic year at any given time.
It is important to remember that 90% on a test is seen as a positive achievement however in attendance terms anything less than 90% is a serious concern. The reason for this is shown below in the number of days missed by persistently absent students.
With the support of St Helens EWS, school tracks and monitors our persistently absent students closely offering support and strategies to improve individuals attendance.
They will, on average:
That could be the difference between a grade 5 and a grade 4 or a grade 9 and a grade 8 in Maths or English.
Improving your child’s attendance will help them achieve their true potential.
This is why
From November, any student who has 100% attendance fortnightly will receive a R4 award on Class Charts (this equates to +10 positive points).
Individual year groups have continuous weekly rewards for attendance.
Attendance is taken into account in end of term and end of year rewards trips.
We want to work together in a positive way to ensure your child is with us every school, on time. We will always use bespoke, supportive strategies to work with you to improve attendance and punctuality. However, like all schools we will apply sanctions as necessary if absences and lates are unauthorised. Attendance and punctuality is a serious issue and it would be remiss of us not to apply serious consequences when necessary.
Your child should be in school no later than 8.30am for Form. Form is very important as it is an opportunity for Literacy intervention, Personal Development sessions as well as daily Sacred Time and preparation for the day.
Further information about unauthorised absences can be found in our school attendance policy here.
Where absence is unavoidable, the School is very happy to ensure that work is provided so that our student's do not fall behind in their progress.
More information about attendance and punctuality can be found in our policy here.
