Attendance
Excellent attendance at school is vital to help children achieve and get the best possible start in life. Children who frequently miss school often fall behind. Research suggests that Pupils with no absence are 1.3 times more likely to achieve level 4 or above, and 3.1 times more likely to achieve level 5 or above, than pupils that missed 10-15% of all sessions. Pupils with no absence are 2.2 times more likely to achieve 5+ GCSEs grade 4 or above or equivalent including English and mathematics than pupils that missed 15-20% of KS4 lessons. In addition, good attendance at school shows potential employers that a young person is reliable and is something requested when writing references.
In 2021 we launched our Graduated Attendance Strategy.
As well as closely monitoring those students whose attendance is not where it needs to be, we also want to celebrate fantastic attendance. Our rewards scheme within school is designed to encourage students to attend every day, with different incentives for students that have excellent attendance.
100% Attendance Challenge
You will be aware that we launched our first 100% Attendance Challenge on Monday 10th October. All those students who achieve 100% attendance between Monday 10th October and Wednesday 23rd November will be invited to our free funfair. We will hold another Attendance Challenge in the summer term, with access to our free funfair for students with 100% attendance during the challenge period.
100% Attendance Club
We recognise that maintaining 100% attendance is a fantastic achievement and shows real perseverance and resilience on the student’s part. We are delighted to reward such students by giving them a much deserved place in the 100% Attendance Club. This prestigious club is for those students who maintain 100% attendance throughout the academic year. Membership of this club entitles students to a range of rewards such as ‘jump the queue’, pop up events and celebration activities. Students in this club will be given a membership badge after October half term.
97% Attendance Red Carpet Events
Students with an attendance of over 97% will be invited to our termly red carpet events.
How can you help?
Our focus on attendance means that we monitor the attendance of every child, every day, and every student is asked to record cumulative attendance in their student planner weekly. Please support this by checking and signing your child(ren)s’ planners every week. We also appreciate that there may be exceptional times when your child will sometimes have to miss school because of illness or if they have long term medical issues.
If this is the case, parents and carers should contact school on each day of absence to let them know the reason that their child is not in school. We may request medical evidence to support absences.
A change to government legislation means that schools are no longer allowed to authorise requests for children to be taken out of school for a holiday during term time. Requests for leave can only be granted by schools if there are exceptional circumstances, and holidays are not considered exceptional. Requests for leave must also be made to the school in advance, as the Department for Education has told schools that they cannot authorise any absences after they have been taken.
A penalty notice is a fine to parents or carers if they fail to ensure that their child/ren attend school regularly. Bradford Council is responsible for issuing penalty notices on behalf of schools in the city. If a penalty notice is issued it is £60 per child per parent if paid within 21 days, and £120 if paid between 22 and 28 days. If the fine is not paid, parents will be reported for prosecution.
All children aged between 5 and 16 are required by law (section 444 of the 1996 Education Act) to attend school and it is the legal requirement of parents and carers to ensure that they are supported to do so. It is very important that we work together on this to ensure that your child is in school so that they are able to do their very best.
If we have concerns regarding a child’s attendance, we will contact parents/carers as per the Graduated Attendance Strategy to see what we can do to support you in ensuring your children attend school regularly.
Those students with an attendance of below 90% are classed as “persistently absent” and will be placed on an attendance contract to monitor their attendance at school. Students with an attendance of below 80% will have missed 37 days in a school year; this equates to 185 lessons and means that five years they will have missed one full year of education.
This has a massive impact on how well they go on to do in Year 11, with only 12% of pupils with below 80% school attendance achieve five or more GCSEs at grades 9 - 1 including English and Maths, compared to 68% for pupils with attendance greater than 95%. If your child(ren)s’ attendance falls below 80%, you may be invited to a meeting with the Local Authority and prosecution may be considered.
We want to support all our parents / carers in ensuring that their child attends school regularly and if you are experiencing any problems in getting your child to school, please do not hesitate to contact the Head of Year or the Attendance Team.
Thank you for your continued support in ensuring that you child attends school every day.