Attendance

Attendance Team

Mr D Swarbrick – Deputy Headteacher- Behaviour and Attitudes

Mr J Walmsley – Director of Student Support – KS4 – Standards

Mrs E Gorrill – Attendance Manager

Miss T Monk – Attendance Officer

Punctuality

School starts at 8.35am and pupils are expected to be on site by 8.30am.

School Attendance

The school recognises that pupils need to attend regularly if they are to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them. The school recognises that parents/carers are primarily responsible for ensuring that children attend school but endeavours to work, in partnership with parents/carers, to support and monitor attendance and to resolve problems that lead to regular non-attendance.

Why Regular Attendance is so Important?

Research shows clearly that poor attendance/punctuality and poor attainment are inextricably linked. Absence affects the pattern of a child’s schooling and regular absence will seriously affect their learning. Ensuring your child’s regular attendance at school is the legal responsibility of the parent/carer and permitting absence from school without a good reason creates an offence in law which can result in prosecution.

What is Good Attendance?

We encourage pupils to maintain 96%+ attendance and to be punctual to school each day. Texts will be sent out to parents/carers if you have not contacted the school with a valid reason for absence each morning. If attendance is poor or irregular it will be referred to a member of the school’s pastoral support staff..

Reporting Absence from School

If your child is not attending school, please contact the school on 01282 865299 and choose Option 1. Please call before 08.20 on the first day of absence and update the school daily, before 08:20, to avoid receiving an absence alert. Please send a written note to your child’s form tutor on the day of their return.

If you know your child is going to be late, please contact school as soon as possible. Your child must enter the school through the main reception to sign in, on return to school.

Medical/Dental Appointments during term time

Please try to arrange appointments outside school hours. Where it is unavoidable to book a medical appointment outside of the school day, we ask that they are made late in the afternoon so students can access as much of the school day as possible without disruption to their learning. Where morning appointments are necessary you will need to notify school in advance.

If your child needs to leave during the school day, you must provide a written note clearly stating:

• the reason for leaving school,

• what time they need to leave,

• how they are leaving i.e., allowed to walk, or being collected and,

• if applicable, the approximate time of returning to school.

You must inform either the Attendance team/Form tutor/Year Leader of the reason and provide evidence for appointments. The pupil will be given a completed ‘permission to leave’ form in advance of their leaving class. They must show this at the main reception to sign out and keep with them when out of school.

Absence Below 96%

The school will work, in partnership with the family, to monitor and support your child’s attendance. If school attendance drops below 96%, the school will undertake a variety of measures to improve your child’s attendance. These can include:

• Letter being sent home regarding the attendance issue

• You will be invited to attend a meeting at school to discuss the issues around your child’s attendance. (please note that these meetings are compulsory)

• Initiating sanctions as appropriate in line with the school’s behaviour policy

• Referral to internal support strategies.

• Referral to external agencies e.g. school nurse, ELCAS and others to support your child’s needs in relation to school attendance.

• The setting of attendance targets.

• Invited to a school Attendance Review Panels. (please note that these meetings are compulsory)

• The use of legal sanctions.

Absence Below 90%

Attendance at 90% or below is classified as Persistent Absentee. If your child becomes a persistent absentee, then the school attendance team will liaise with you to necessitate improvement. A support package/action plan will be implemented. If, after a planned timescale no improvement has occurred, then the school will consider the use of legal intervention.

Requests for Absence in Term Time

Permission from the Headteacher must be sought for all absences that occur during term-time. A ‘request for leave of absence form’ must be completed in advance of the absence taking place. This form can be downloaded HERE or collected from the attendance team.

Only the Headteacher can decide if the absence is to be authorised or unauthorised. Under current regulations, schools cannot authorise any holidays taken in term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. School will require evidence of exceptional circumstances, which should be attached to the ‘request for leave of absence form’ and the judgement about what is exceptional will be made by the Headteacher.

For further information on related attendance concerns, please contact: Mrs Gorrill or Miss Monk: 01282 865299 and select option 1, or email: attendancecalls@fishermore.lancs.sch.uk.

A copy of our attendance policy can be found on our policies page.