Attendance
Attendance email address: attendance@newlandsgirls.co.uk
Telephone number: 01628 502663
Students who attend school are more likely to do well and achieve their full potential both academically and personally. To give your child the best chance possible they need to be in school. It is the responsibility of parents and carers, staff, students and governors to ensure all students have good attendance.
The school day
School starts promptly at 8.40am. The entrance gates open at 8.25am and students are expected to be in registration by 8.40am at the latest. They must also make sure that they arrive punctually for the start of each lesson.
Attendance rates.
There is a clear link between attendance rates and high achievement. Good attendance is seen as being at least 97%. Attendance below 95% is a cause for concern and below 90% is classified as persistent absence.
Missing just a few days from school seem unimportant and harmless however the impact to a student’s education should not be underestimated. A 90% attendance rate over a child’s time at school means they have missed 4 weeks of school. Across a students’ entire school life this would mean that by the end of Year 11, the equivalent of a whole school year will have been missed. On average 17 absences during a school year results in one less grade for a GCSE.
The following table shows the amount of learning time lost through absence.
The following table shows the amount of learning time lost through absence.
|
Attendance rate |
Equals days absent |
Equals weeks absent |
Number of lessons missed |
|
95% |
10 days |
2 weeks |
50 lessons |
|
90% |
20 days |
4 weeks |
100 lessons |
|
85% |
30 days |
6 weeks |
150 lessons |
|
80% |
40 days |
8 weeks |
200 lessons |
How can you help your child’s attendance?
Illness
If you are unsure if your child is ill, send them in any way. We will send them home if they are genuinely unwell.
Children can be given medication at school such as paracetamol or antibiotics. Do not let the administration of medication be a reason for pupils staying at home.
If your child is absent due to illness, do not give them another day “just to make sure” or “because it’s Friday anyway”. Send them back to school as soon as they are well.
Medical appointments
Make sure all medical appointments are outside school hours. If medical appointments are essential, please arrange these between morning and afternoon registration where possible.
Holidays
Holidays during term-time will not be agreed. Any planned absence needs to be agreed by the Headteacher and will be granted on a case by case basis and in advance. Any holidays or periods of absence taken which have not been approved will be recorded as unauthorised absence and may result in a fine.
Using Arbor to monitor your child’s attendance
The introduction of Arbor allows you to keep track of your child’s attendance each day and over time. Please do use Arbor regularly to discuss your child’s attendance. Form tutors will be using Arbor to monitor attendance for students.
It is also possible to report absence via the in app messaging service in the Arbor parent app.
How we will support your child’s attendance
If your child is absent without authorisation, the school will email, text or phone home on the first day of absence to check the reason for their absence.
If your child’s attendance starts to fall, their form tutor will discuss this with them to identify if there are any issues.
If attendance continues to fall the school’s Attendance Officer and Head of Year will meet with the student to support improving their attendance.
If attendance falls below 90% the Attendance Officer will send a letter of concern home, explaining our concern and further meetings may held.
Where attendance does not improve, a referral will be made to the Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) and parents and carers will be invited into school for an attendance meeting.
Following this if attendance still does not improve, a fixed penalty notice may be issued.
Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs)
Fixed Penalty Notices may be issued in cases where students are either absent from school without authorisation or when an absence is linked to a holiday application that has not been authorised. Further information on FPNs can be found here: School attendance and absence: Legal action to enforce school attendance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Who can I contact?
To report an absence, you can contact the attendance office by phone: 01628 502663 or email: attendance@newlandsgirls.co.uk. You can also report an absence via the Arbor app or site.
If you are concerned about your child’s attendance, in the first instance, please contact their form tutor or Head of Year.