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Attendance

Understanding Attendance


The Importance of Excellent Attendance

As I am confident you will all agree, your child having excellent attendance at school is essential. As we enter 2024 continued excellent attendance is crucial to ensure that your child is able to access all their classes and the range of personal development sessions that run each day through tutor periods, assembly sessions and extra-curricular clubs and groups along with:

  • Securing good academic outcomes for their future
  • Creating good habits for their working life
  • Securing relationships with staff and peers
  • Ensuring they have high self-esteem and feel confident and praised for their achievements

We expect students to attend school every day. Genuine illness or authorised ‘Leave of Absence’ requests are the only exception and must be submitted before leave is taken or when ill, parents/carers must notify the school.

If a student is absent, we do expect that they catch up on missed work. This may be for homework or during catch up sessions at school. Doing so will ensure that they do not fall behind, they do not lose confidence as a result and can achieve their best.

Below is a table of action that will take place regarding your child’s attendance:

Please remember we are here to help.  Attendance clinics and calls are all designed to ensure we are encouraging and supporting attendance.  While it is a parental responsibility to ensure that their child attendance school well, we will help in any way are able.

Thank you for your support and understanding with sharing the importance of excellent attendance with your child. We look forward to seeing students again on return after Christmas. We will begin the January term with assemblies about transition back to school with excellent attendance being key to safe, happy and successful students as well as a reminder of our core values of being respectful, responsible and ready to achieve young people.

Please do contact your child’s form tutor in the first instance for support with your child’s attendance.

Regular and punctual attendance at school is both a legal requirement and essential for students to maximise their educational opportunities. I would like to thank parents and carers for their efforts in helping the Academy to maintain our high standards in respect of both attendance and punctuality.

It is a parent’s legal responsibility to ensure that their child attends school regularly and, ideally, every student should aim for 100% attendance at school. The Department for Education sets a target for school attendance, which is that all school students should attend school for at least 95% of each academic year. The QEGS expectation is at least 96% and we will look to support students who fall below this target.

For safeguarding reasons primarily, it is of vital importance that students are at school and on time. Furthermore, any absence from school disrupts the education of a student. Young people not attending school regularly and punctually:-

  • Do not achieve their best possible academic outcomes
  • Do not engage with the full range of educational opportunities available to them
  • Compromise their future educational and employment opportunities
  • Find it difficult to maintain friendships

The attached “Lost Learning” information sheet clearly illustrates the impact of days missed from school. Although 96% attendance might sound high, in fact this equates to a student being absent for almost 2 school weeks (49 lessons missed). Students whose attendance falls below 96% are considered to be below the expected QEGS standard and those that fall below 90% are categorised by the Department for Education as persistently absent.

Absence from school can only be authorised by the Headteacher within the boundaries set by the Department for Education (Pupil Registration, England, Amendment) regulations (Sept 2013). All unauthorised absence taken in term time will be referred to Derbyshire County Council with the request that a Penalty Notice is issued. Please see the attached statement from Derbyshire County Council with regard to the issue of penalty notices.

School starts at 8.50am (except when it is a parents’ consultation evening or early closure when the start time is 8.30am) and the register is taken at this time. Students arriving at school after this time must report to Student Services, where their name and reason for lateness will be recorded. If a student receives three late marks or is more than 20 minutes late, without good reason, they will serve a lunchtime detention. If students receive three lunchtime detentions, miss their lunchtime detention or are more than 40 minutes late, parents and carers will be contacted and they will serve an after-school detention.

If your child is unwell at home and unable to attend school because of illness, then you must phone school to report the absence, before 9.00am. To do this simply phone 01335 343 685 and press 1 to speak to Student Services. If the period of absence is greater than 3 school days you must complete a reason for absence form. This will be given to students, by their Form Tutor, on their return to school as part of their reintegration process, and should be returned promptly back to their tutor. Provided that the reason for absence falls within the regulations set down by the Department for Education, the absence will be recorded as ‘authorised’. Absence that falls outside these regulations, or is not supported by the return of the reason for absence form, is deemed to be ‘unauthorised’ and will be recorded as such.

We request that all medical/dental appointments are sought out of school hours where possible, so as not to impact on attendance and learning. However, if your child has an appointment during the school day they should bring a copy of their appointment letter (if applicable) and/or a letter from home explaining the need to leave school early that day. Your child will need to have this letter signed by their Progress Leader and take it to Student Services to sign out at the agreed time.

Students whose attendance or punctuality gives cause for concern will be supported by the Academy to help them improve. If no improvement is evident, students will be referred to Education Welfare Services at Derbyshire County Council, which may result in you being served with a Penalty Notice or a summons to court.

Given the importance of students attending school regularly and on time, all QEGS Rewards trips/events have the attendance criteria of 96% and the punctuality criteria of no more than 3 late marks, which students must achieve in order to participate in any rewards events.

If you would like to discuss your child’s attendance and punctuality data, then please contact their Form Tutor in the first instance.

Whilst we appreciate that students’ attendance and punctuality may, on occasion, be affected by periods of ill health or other mitigating circumstances, we ask that you continue to ensure that your child attends school in line with the targets set for school attendance and punctuality.

Whilst we appreciate that students’ attendance and punctuality may, on occasion, be affected by periods of ill health or other mitigating circumstances, we ask that you continue to ensure that your child attends school in line with the targets set for school attendance and punctuality.

What to do if…

…Your child is unwell and unable to attend school

If your child is unwell at home and unable to attend school because of illness, then you must phone school to report the absence, before 9.00am. To do this simply phone 01335 343 685 and press 1 to speak to Student Services. If the period of absence is greater than 3 school days you must complete a reason for absence form. This will be given to students, by their Form Tutor, on their return to school as part of their reintegration process, and should be returned promptly back to their tutor. Provided that the reason for absence falls within the regulations set down by the Department for Education, the absence will be recorded as ‘authorised’. Absence that falls outside these regulations, or is not supported by the return of the reason for absence form, is deemed to be ‘unauthorised’ and will be recorded as such.

…Your child has a medical appointment during the school day

We request that all medical/dental appointments are sought out of school hours where possible, so as not to impact on attendance. However, if your child has an appointment during the school day they should bring a copy of their appointment letter (if applicable) and/or a letter from home explaining the need to leave school early that day. Your child will need to have this letter signed by their Progress Leader and take it to Student Services to sign out at the agreed time.

…You wish to request leave during term time

Please download, complete and return this form – Leave of Absence Request Form
Please note – The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 state that Headteachers should not grant approval for any leave of absence during term-time including holidays, unless there are exceptional circumstances. From 1st September 2017, if requested, Derbyshire County Council will consider the issue of a penalty notice for any period of holiday absence which has not been authorised by the Headteacher regardless of a child’s wider school attendance. – Extract taken from the leave of absence guidance.

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Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Ashbourne Derbyshire