Our attendance target for all pupils is over 96% or fewer than 7 days off school during a school year, although we do recognise that some absences are unavoidable.
Pupils who are absent for more than 7 of the 190 school days in a year are missing over 40 hours of learning.
Excellent attendance and punctuality are essential for pupils’ success at school; establishing positive life habits that enable students to achieve their full potential. Research has found that pupils with 95% attendance will achieve a grade higher on average than a pupil with 85% attendance. If a pupil misses 10% of lessons, then a student can expect to drop at least a grade.
Through attending regularly, pupils can:
Engage in essential learning and other school social events.
Build friendships and develop social groups.
Develop life skills necessary for future success
Attendance and Punctuality Expectations for Parents/Carers.Parents/Carers should support their child to get to school on time everyday and encourage them to develop daily routines to ensure that they are Ready to learn. Ensuring that their child attends school regularly and on time is the legal responsibility of parents and carers.
Parents/Carers should do their best to ensure that all routine medical and dental appointments are made outside of school time.
If you child is ill in the morning but feels better later, send them in. If you have let the attendance team know they won’t get a late detention.
If your child is unwell please consult https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/ as a guide to whether they should be in school or not.
Parents/Carers should inform school in advance of any medical and dental appointments or any other valid reason why their child will not be in school. Proof of these appointments should be sent in.
If a pupil is absent unexpectedly then the parents/carers should inform the school by 8.00am on the day of the absence. This should be done via Edulink.
If their child’s attendance becomes a cause for concern parents/carers should work together with the school to remove the barriers to attendance and accept support that is offered.
We acknowledge and welcome the multi-faith nature of our community and recognise that some families’ important religious festivals may fall outside school holidays. One day in any term will be authorised for an individual occasion of religious observance and no more than three days in any academic year.
Holidays should not be booked during term time as the school will not authorise this absence unless there are exceptional circumstances. A leave of absence request form should be completed at least 2 weeks before. Please click on the link below.
Parents/Carers should be aware that where a holiday is taken without permission the school retains the right to refer this to the local authority for a penalty notice to be issued.
Every absence will generate a response as part of our Graduated Attendance Monitoring System. Parents/Carers will receive email notification of this, and pupils will have a supportive conversation with their Form Tutor, Year Team or the Attendance and Safeguarding Team.
The table below gives details of the stages of our system.
| Stage | Action |
| 1 – Attendance Awareness
(1 week) |
Form tutor speaks informally to pupil
Email to Parents/Carers |
| 2 – Attendance Watch
(2 weeks) |
Year team to speak to pupil and record note in planner
Email to Parents/Carers |
| 3 – Attendance Concern
(6 weeks reviewed every 2 weeks) |
Attendance or Year Team to call parents/carers to offer support.
|
| 4 – Attendance Contract
|
Parents/Carers invited in to attend and Attendance Panel Meeting and for an attendance contract to be written |
| If a pupil’s attendance doesn’t improve during Stage 3 then they will be moved up to Stage 4 and asked to attend a Panel meeting with an Attendance Support Worker from Bradford Council. An attendance contract will then be drawn up. If the terms of this contract aren’t met the Bradford Council will consider issuing a fixed penalty notice. The penalty is £80 if paid within 21 days rising to £160 if paid after 21 days. The Council are likely to take unpaid fines to prosecution. Bradford Council may choose to prosecute where poor attendance and engagement is a persistent issue. Prosecution can result in a fine of up to £2500. For more information about fines please click here | |
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