Attendance

Rationale

Pupils can only be taught if they attend school regularly and punctually. Holy Cross expects parents to ensure the continuous and regular attendance of their children at school. A concern for regular and continuous attendance fosters not only recognition of the important value of learning but also of self-discipline, responsibility and reliability. A positive attitude to school attendance will be fostered by the school by making each child’s experience of school worthwhile and hopefully enjoyable.

Purposes

• To encourage all pupils at Holy Cross to see the virtue and importance of high standards of attendance to effective learning.
• To instill in pupils the importance of high standards of attendance and punctuality for success in life after school.
• To offer information, guidance and support to parents in matters of attendance so as to maximise pupil attendance and punctuality.
• To ensure a well understood and functioning system is in place which meets national and local requirements for pupil attendance at school.

Guidelines

• Group tutors will be responsible for the monitoring of attendance of their tutor absence notes from parents and initiating correspondence with parents where children have returned to school without proper explanation, as defined by the current arrangements given to parents about authorised and unauthorised absence. Attendance details will be kept on computer which will be updated weekly. Students are expected to be in school at 8.55am for morning registration. All N marks are to be resolved by form tutors on a weekly basis. Students who arrive late without a valid reason will be expected to attend a break time detention on the same day. Three lates accumulated over time result in an after school detention on Tuesday or Friday evening.
• Clear guidance will be given to tutors about the accurate completion of registration forms which will be taken at the beginning of the school day. Class teachers will complete registers at the start of each lesson. Registers will be monitored daily by the schools Attendance Improvement Officer (AIO) and supported by Year Heads and the Assistant Head Teacher. A text will be sent to any parents who have not informed the school of their child’s absence on any given day.
• Attendance figures will be published to key staff within school each week by the Attendance Improvement Officer, Mr Dooley. The Attendance Improvement Officer, will be responsible for carrying out a weekly analysis of attendance figures and following up any issues that arise.
• Where this analysis reveals pupils with an attendance percentage of below 90% or more than five broken weeks in a term one of the Attendance Improvement Officers (AIO) will contact home to inform the parents of this. Parents are then offered support and new targets are set in an attempt to improve the figures using Attendance Contracts. External Agencies may also be used to support this process. Where improvement does not occur the AIO is involved and a target of 100% during next 20 days is set.
• Persistent offenders are identified and the local authority is asked by the Assistant Head to begin the legal process of initiating warning letters to parents.
• The Assistant Head will liaise with the Welfare Committee of the Governing Body in matters of attendance – furnishing this committee regularly with Attendance Statistics and the details of particular problem pupils.
• The school will maintain and regularly publish attendance statistics as required by stature and also within the school via bulletins and newsletters, so that the importance of good attendance is kept at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
• The school will also endeavor to assist pupils with setting appropriate work to be completed at home when pupils for reason of longer term illness are unable to attend school. The school will also make every effort to liaise effectively with home tutors when home tutoring has been established. The guidelines set out by Shaftesbury High will be followed in consultation with AIO.
• Pupils returning after lengthy absence will be monitored by AIO, Heads of Year and supported by tutors, subject staff and where needed the school’s Counsellor, Chaplain and The Routledge Centre.
• Issues of attendance and punctuality will be a standard agenda item at all year team meetings and all pastoral heads’ meetings.
• Subject teachers will maintain regular checks on class attendance and insist on good punctuality. Rewards are issued on a half termly basis for good attendance in celebration assemblies.
• 100% attendance certificates are given to pupils at the end of each term.
• Certification of full attendance is awarded annually at the Awards Days.
• Holidays are not authorised in term time.

Summary

Holy Cross expects its pupils to have enjoyed very high standards of attendance for its own sake and also for pupils’ future needs. Every encouragement will be given to develop standards and positive attitudes and every effort made to ensure follow-up procedures to deal with lack of attendance as required.

Reviewed March 2018 Mr P.Morris