Attendance: Students Policy:

To ensure systematic and consistent practice regarding attendance.

Procedure: The Attendance Welfare Officer or Attendance Administrator will make contact with parents/carers on the first day of a student’s unexplained absence and transfer the information to the registration system accordingly.
1. The role of the form tutor is:
• To maintain accurate registers using the appropriate codes.
• To monitor patterns of attendance.
• To be aware of reasons for long term absence and advise the Attendance Officer accordingly.
• To endeavour to establish the best attendance habits.
• To establish the reasons for absence at the earliest opportunity.
• To advise Attendance Administrator of any reason for absence so that it can be logged on the system.
• To make students' responsibilities clear regarding attendance, arriving late, leaving premises and absence.
2. The role of the subject teacher is:
• To use the CMIS system to register students in their lesson.
• To monitor patterns of non-attendance to their lesson.
• To advice the Form Tutor of attendance concerns regarding individual students.
CMIS is a fully integrated timetabling and resource management solution, designed to manage both physical and academic resources for any size of H&FE .
3. The role of the Attendance Officer is:
• To check CMIS roll call and make first day contact regarding unexplained absence.
• To support staff regarding attendance and punctuality issues.
• To monitor roll call and registers to ensure consistent good practice.
• To promote good attendance to students through assemblies and meetings.
• To support students and parents/carers with attendance difficulties.
4. Procedures when attendance becomes an on-going concern.
• Home visit – Attendance Welfare Officer will visit in cases where school has been unable to contact the parents/carers over a period of time or where parents require support with their child’s non-attendance.
• Unofficial warning letter - Attendance Welfare Officer will write an informal letter of advice to parents/carers in prolonged cases of absence or truancy.
• Escort students into school - This is usually effective in cases where parents/carers, though supportive of school, are unable to enforce the requirement of their child’s attendance.
• Referral to Education Welfare Officer – the Attendance Welfare Officer will refer cases of prolonged absence or school refusal.
• Parish Hall / prosecution –The EWO and Education Support Team will consider this if the support and intervention from all agencies involved has been ineffective in resolving the attendance problem.
5. Following up on known truancy:
• Truancy from a lesson - Subject teacher's responsibility to follow up if the student is known to be in school e.g extra work/department detention/contact home
• Truancy from school - Time should be made up in detention. The Form Tutor or Head of House to follow up by contacting home and issuing detention. Attendance monitoring card.
6. Holidays
Parents/carers are advised through the Welcome Pack that:
• It is not recommended to take student out of school during term, especially in Year 10 and 11.
• The Head teacher can allow up to 10 days absence from School for students to accompany parents on holiday.
• Permission for holidays in school time for all the years will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.
• Requests for absence must be made in writing to the Head teacher at least four weeks prior to the holiday.
• Parents/carers are advised that holidays should not be booked until permission has been received from the School.
• Education Dept will grant permission on one occasion only for holidays of more than 10 school days duration a Secondary School career.
7. Medical appointments
Students should show a medical note or appointment card and sign out with the Attendance Administrator.
8. Illness in school
• Students who are ill or have been involved in an accident in school should report to the Medical Officer.
• Under no circumstances should any student leave the School premises without permission from a member of staff. Parents/carers will be contacted by the Medical Officer if the student is to return home through illness.
9. Arriving late
Student must report to the Attendance Administrator on arrival and the records will be amended as appropriate.