Attendance | Oakfield Academy

Attendance
Attendance Documents

Attendance email address –attendance@oakfieldacademy.co.uk

Every child has the right to receive a full time education, in order to make the most of what this school has to offer, it is important that pupils attend regularly and arrive punctually. Irregular attendance leads to pupils being out of touch with school life and behind in their studies.

If your child is unwell or has been poorly and you are not sure if you should be sending them to school, there is some very useful NHS advice on the NHS website for parents –

http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/yourchildatschool/pages/illness.aspx

Registration Times

Red gates open from 8.25

Pupils to registers 8.30

Red Gates close 8.30

Pupils arriving 8.30 to 9.00 are marked present with a note of number of minutes late.

Pupils arriving after 9.00 are marked late.

Pupils arriving after 9.30 when registers close are marked U – unauthorised

A register is then taken every lesson.

Absence from school

We operate a system of ‘First day calling’. On most days a member of staff telephones the home of every pupil who has been marked absent during that particular session. The purpose of this is to follow up absences and detect any problems as early as possible. Occasionally parents may receive a call even though an absence note has been sent to school. This is because of the time lapse that sometimes occurs between sending the note to Oakfield Academy and the registering of the note by the member of staff calling home. Your support for this system is appreciated. If a pupil is unable to attend Oakfield Academy due to illness or other unavoidable causes it is essential that the reason for absence and expected duration is communicated to Oakfield who will then decide whether the absence is authorised. If parents or carers are experiencing problems with attendance we can offer advice and support if this is communicated to us.

Illness

If a child is unwell or unable to attend Oakfield Academy it is the duty of the parent/carer to inform the school immediately either in person or by phone. A message giving the name, tutor group, reason and expected duration of absence can be left on the answerphone or can be emailed direct to the Attendance officer using the above school attendance email address.

On return to Oakfield Academy, a note explaining the absence should be given to the tutor of the pupil or a note written in the journal. If no written explanation is received the absence maybe logged as unauthorised. This can lead to inaccuracies in our attendance records and incorrect information being passed to the Education Attendance Safeguarding Service (ESS)

Medical/Dental Appointments

It may be necessary for pupils to attend an appointment during the school day, we would not normally accept that it would be necessary to take a whole day off unless it has been agreed in advance. A note to inform the tutor should be brought into Oakfield Academy prior to the appointment. Pupils should sign in or out when leaving/arriving at school.

We are unable to allow students to leave the school premises during the day unless this has been authorised by a parent/carer.

Oakfield Academy recognises that there maybe times where children of different faiths observe religious festivals that fall outside of school holidays and weekends, and will allow authorised absence for these times.

Term Time Leave

Amendments to the 2006 regulations were made by the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 and came into force on 1 September 2013. These amendments make it clear that Head teachers can only grant leave of absence during term time for exceptional circumstances. Any request for leave must be made in writing to the Head teacher, at least two weeks in advance. If a holiday is not agreed by the Head teacher this will be marked as unauthorised absence. Oakfield Academy will follow the Local Authority guidelines to address attendance which may include the use of statutory powers leading to Penalty Notices and court prosecution.

Rewarding Good Attendance

Attendance Certificates: Gold 100%. Silver 97.1-99%, Bronze 95-97%

Whole school target currently – 96%

Certificates awarded monthly to the top class for each year group and displayed on the class notice board.

Monitoring and Dealing with Poor Attendance

Attendance discussed at year meetings, where pupils falling below 96% will be monitored and any follow up action put in place. (Referral to relevant support service)

The Head of Year meet with the Attendance Officer fortnightly to discuss identified pupils who had 96% or below the previous year. Where there are serious concerns pupils will be added to the list during the course of the year. A phone call from tutor will be made at 96%, if no improvement a letter will be sent to parents (see appendix*) a further letter will be sent if no significant improvement occurs, finally a referral will be made to the ESS. You will be required to provide medical evidence if the absence is due to illness.

Admin support of Attendance

Mrs Sanders has responsibility for administration of attendance

Registers read daily – list printed off for roll call

First day calling wherever possible to query absence if not notified by parent

Notify Children’s Social Care if a child in receipt of a child protection plan, is absent from academy for more than 2 days when this absence is unexplained

Absences published to tutors weekly for clearing

Attendance reports printed out for Head of Year meetings

Attendance totals printed out at end of month for Head of Year

Head of Year request attendance letters to be sent out

List of late pupils to Head of Years– to authorise detentions