NEWMAN CATHOLIC COMPUTING COLLEGE

ATTENDANCE & PUNCTUALITY POLICY

GOVERNING BODY APPROVAL: Autumn 2011 COMMITTEE WITH RESPONSIBILITY FOR MONITORING AND REVIEW: Curriculum Committee NEXT REVIEW DATE: Autumn 2014

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N.C.C ATTENDANCE & PUNCTUALITY POLICY Mission Statement EVERYONE CONTRIBUTES, EVERYONE COUNTS, EVERYONE SUCCEEDS Introduction Every child has the right to be educated. At Newman Catholic College we aim to provide an environment where all children feel safe and want to learn. However, it is the duty of both parents and teachers to encourage and ensure excellent attendance at school. Students should be encouraged to see the value of taking full advantage of their educational opportunities by attending regularly. There is a clear link between attendance and student achievement/progress. We aim to identify patterns of non-attendance at a very early stage and to work with parents and the Education Welfare Service to resolve difficulties. The attendance of all students is monitored each week by the Heads of School and Learning Tutors. It is expected that every student attends school every day unless he is too unwell to do so.

Aims of the policy  To improve school attendance  To make attendance and punctuality a priority for students, parents, staff and governors  To raise the educational achievement of all students  To provide guidance for parents Roles and responsibilities  School governors/Principal with the Education Welfare Service, set an annual attendance target.  The Principal has a responsibility to ensure that a daily record of attendance is taken.  The Senior Vice Principal, with responsibility for attendance, ensures that whole-school data on attendance is regularly produced, analysed, evaluated and disseminated to relevant staff.  The Head of School monitors the attendance of their year group and evaluates the attendance data for their year group.  The subject teacher takes the formal register in all lessons.  The Learning tutor will ask the students in their form for notes when they have been absent.  Every student has a responsibility to ensure they attend school every day.  Each parent has a responsibility to ensure the excellent attendance of their son and to work with the school to do so. We shall have been successful when:  the parents of any student absent from school notify the school on the first day of absence  a child who has been absent brings with him a written note of explanation on his return to school  the Learning Tutor has successfully obtained absence notes from students in their form group  the Head of School and, if appropriate the Education Welfare Officer, are aware of, and are taking necessary action to remedy, any persistent or long term difficulties regarding attendance 2

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students see regular attendance as being of importance to their educational progress Learning tutors make their students aware of their attendance parents arrange, as far as possible, for any medical treatment to take place in the school holiday periods parents do not arrange family holidays during school term time our attendance is outstanding and the percentage of students with persistent absence (20% or more) is below the national average.

How our school manages student absence  The school attendance officer will phone students’ homes on the first day of absence.  The attendance officer will send a letter home after 3 days of absence if an absence is unexplained.  The Learning Tutor will notify weekly the relevant Head of School regarding any persistent or longer term problems of attendance.  Weekly meetings, led by Heads of School will be held with all Learning tutors and Support tutors to discuss attendance issues.  Parents will be invited in to talk about their child’s attendance, where there is concern.  A strategy to improve individual attendance will be put in place  Individual students and form groups who have maintained a high standard of attendance over a termly or yearly basis are recognised and rewarded.  The school will refer a student to the Education Welfare Officer, where the student has attendance of 80 % or less and has not responded to strategies already put in place.

Referral to the Local Authority Education Welfare Service The Education Welfare Officer (EWO) will discuss with school staff an individual case. They will make contact with the parent, either by phone or by an initial home visit. There will be a variety of interventions to support the school and the student. For example, there might be further meetings with the student and parent, a meeting might be arranged with other agencies. The EWO will keep the school informed of what progress has been made. If there is no improvement in the student’s attendance, the EWO will discuss the case with the Senior Practioner who will now support the EWO. The family will be asked to attend a meeting with the Senior Practitioner and the EWO at the Centre for Staff Development. The family will be informed that if there is no improvement in their child’s attendance, they might be taken to court. If there is no progress, the Senior Practitioner will make the decision to take the family to court. The school will be kept informed of any developments by the Senior Practitioner or EWO. Requests for student leave of absence during term time Our school actively discourages parent s making requests to take their children out of school during term time. Parents are expected to take holidays and visit family abroad during the 14 weeks of school holiday. We have a request form that a parent, in exceptional circumstances may complete and return to the Principal for 3

consideration. Children who are taken out of school for unauthorised leave, during term time, risk losing their school places and receiving a fixed penalty notice. Our school has the full support of our governors and the local authority in this matter and the Principal’s decision is final. Parents granted leave of absence must make sure they contact the school if they expect any delay in a student’s return. Evidence of the reason for the delay must be presented to the Principal on the student’s return. The responsibility for ensuring that a student returns to school on the date agreed with the Principal remains with the parents. Religious holidays Parents may apply for permission for their child to be absent from school on the day of a religious festival. The school is unable to sanction leave of absence for longer than one day. Parents taking their children out for more than one day will have the absence recorded as unauthorised. Punctuality Students’ punctuality to school and lessons is of great importance at Newman Catholic College. We expect students to arrive to school by 8.40 am. Students who arrive after 8.45 will be marked late and receive a detention of up to 30 minutes that night. Students who arrive from 8.45-9.10 should be marked late by their Learning tutor during the Literacy session .Those who arrive after 9.10 should report to the attendance officer. Students who arrive after 9.30 will be marked absent. Punctuality to lessons is also important and helps the lessons to start on time and shows students are ready to learn. Using our electronic registration system we monitor student punctuality and attendance. Punctuality to school will be monitored by the Assistant Head of School. We shall have been successful when:  Every student within the school arrives at school by 8.40.am each day  Every student arrives for each lesson on time.  Students are aware of the consequences of frequent late arrival for school and / or for lessons.  Learning Tutors are aware of regular latecomers, and have taken appropriate action to deal with them.  Students have developed a positive and self-disciplined attitude towards punctuality.

School governors The Principal has a responsibility to report on attendance issues to the governors. Our governors support the Principal in managing requests for student leave of absence and take the position that families have ‘no right’ to such leave. Safeguarding children  Our school must be able to demonstrate to Ofsted that it knows the whereabouts of each student, from year 7 to 13. At Newman Catholic College, we view this as a safeguarding issue.

How we celebrate excellent and improving attendance/punctuality At Newman Catholic College any students with 100% attendance will receive a certificate.Pupils who have made a significant improvement will also be rewarded.

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