Attendance Policy

Governors Committee Responsible for the Policy:

Standards

Date Approved:

Sept 2014

Recommended Review Period:

Two Years

Date for Review:

Sept 2016

Leadership Team Role Responsible for the Operation of the Policy:

Assistant Headteachers i/c Steyne Site & Arundel Site

Introduction Regular and punctual attendance is of paramount importance in ensuring that all children have full access to the curriculum. Valuable learning time is lost when children are absent or late. This policy reflects the aims of Seaford Head School by encouraging students to maximise their learning experience in order that all reach their full potential, providing clear procedures for involving parents/carers, students and other relevant agencies relating to attendance.

The Aims of this Policy are to:  To safeguard our students by ensuring they are in school, or their whereabouts is known and authorised  To improve the overall attendance rate of our students. This is done in two ways: o Making the procedures of registration and monitoring of attendance accurate and efficient o Creating a culture whereby good attendance and punctuality are valued and promoted by parents/carers, teachers and students.  To support those students whose non-attendance is for serious reasons of illness, either physical or psychological We expect all students to come to school every day. Evidence shows that the biggest threat to progress is poor attendance. Students who attend school consistently are more likely to achieve their potential, have fulfilling and stable friendships and, therefore, feel happy and secure. Similarly, student-teacher relationships benefit from continuity and learning is more effective when students can build on, and follow, an incremental curriculum as planned and delivered by their teachers. Children are sometimes reluctant to attend school. Any problems with regular attendance are best resolved between the school, the parents/carers and the child. If a child is reluctant to attend, it is never better to cover up their absence or to give in to pressure to excuse them from attending. This gives the impression that attendance does not matter and may make things worse. We ask that medical/dental appointments are made outside of school time if possible, although we do realise that sometimes these are beyond parents/carers immediate control. Every half-day absence has to be classified by the school, (not by the parents/carers), as either authorised or unauthorised: authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from school for a reason such as genuine illness or other unavoidable cause; unauthorised absences are those which the school does not consider reasonable. These may include: parents keeping children off school unnecessarily or for a holiday; truancy during the school day; absences which have never been properly explained; children who arrive at school too late to get a mark.

Parents are expected to contact school at an early stage and to work with the staff in resolving any problems together. If difficulties cannot be resolved, the school may refer the child to the ‘Education Support Behaviour and Attendance Service (ESBAS). ESBAS will also try to resolve the situation by agreement but, if other ways of trying to improve the child’s attendance have failed, this service can use court proceedings to prosecute parents or to seek an Education Supervision Order on the child. The maximum penalty on conviction is a fine of £2500 and/or 3 months imprisonment. Responsibilities The school operates a computerised registration system including Lesson Monitor and Sims in Touch. Absences are coded according to DFE and CSA policies. Teachers must take the register accurately or risk disciplinary action. We work alongside, and in constant communication with ESBAS and we are required to send attendance statistics to the DFE and CSA every term. All staff, through their own behaviour, must promote a positive attitude to attendance and punctuality. The school has an Attendance Officer to monitor and track attendance who works closely with the Student Services Team, Directors of Learning and the Assistant Headteachers on all sites to improve attendance. A medical certificate will be required if your child/children are absent for more than 5 days. Procedures The school applies the following procedures in deciding how to deal with individual absences. A parent should leave a message on the school absence line with a reason for their child’s absence on 01323 872728 before 9.00am (this is a 24 hour line). Truancy calls, texts and emails are sent out each day to alert parents if their child is not in school and no absence message has been left.

Holidays Seaford Head School discourages parents/carers from taking their child out of school during term dates. The Headteacher will not authorise holidays in school time unless in exceptional circumstances. In the case of an unauthorised holiday, ESBAS will be notified of the holiday taken and a Penalty Notice will be issued. Please note that such a Penalty is issued to each parent for each child taken out of school. A penalty Notice is a fine of £60 which increases to £120 if not paid within the first 21 days but within 28 days of receipt of the Notice. Thereafter, if the Penalty remains unpaid this may result in legal action. All monies received through fines from parents/carers are paid direct to the local authority. The school receives no financial gain from any penalty notices. However, if there are exceptional circumstances, a supporting letter must be written to the Head Teacher who may choose to authorise the holiday. Any parent/carer wishing to take their child on holiday in term time must complete a holiday form which can be collected from Student Services. The East Sussex rules regarding taking holidays in term time are very clear and we as a school follow them closely. Consequently, if you book your child out of school for a holiday of less than 5 days and subsequently your child is off sick before the holiday is due to start or has extra days off after the holiday is due to finish we will be asking you for a copy of your holiday booking or a Doctors certificate, to confirm either your holiday dates or your child’s sickness. Failure to produce this evidence will result in the School referring you to the Local Authority for a penalty notice. As you know, an absence from school for 5 days or more will incur a referral for a Penalty Notice, imposed by the Local Authority, of £60 per child, per parent.

Punctuality Students are expected to arrive in school at 8.35am. The morning registration is at 8.40am and the afternoon registration is at 12:30pm. If students are late in the morning they will need to sign in at the Data Office c/o the Attendance Officer. They will complete a twenty-minute detention at lunchtime. Two late marks in a week will also lead to an After School Detention of 60 minutes. These detentions are held every day after school. All students are expected to be on time to lessons and will be issued with a detention by their class teacher if they fail to do so. Attendance Procedures The school’s attendance target is 96% and in order to meet this target the following system is in place:  The school rewards students for good attendance in the following manner: o Parents will receive a termly letter for 100% attendance o Students receive 6 reward points for 100% attendance in a term o Students receive 3 reward points for 96 - 99.9% attendance. o Students with 100% are entered into a termly draw to win cinema vouchers o Students receive certificates twice a year in Achievement Assemblies for 100% and 96 - 99.9% attendance. o An email of congratulations will be sent at the end of the academic year for those students with 100% attendance, up to the start of the new timetable.  Percentage Attendance information is included on regular progress reports.  When requested by the school, parents/carers must provide medical evidence as proof of absence. If this is not provided, the absence will be classed as unauthorised.  If the child’s attendance is 85% or lower, or they have 10 unauthorised absences, they will be referred to ESBAS.  If there are serious concerns, parents/carers will be contacted directly and may be asked to be present at an Attendance Panel, especially if their child’s attendance is below 90%.

Attendance Panels Parents/carers may be invited into school to be present at an Attendance Panel if their child’s attendance is below 85% in terms one and two. The purpose of Attendance Panels is to work together to improve the attendance of the child. There are four stages of Attendance Panels:

Stage One Target normally set at 100% over 2 weeks with a follow meeting after that.

The Student Services Officer and the Attendance Officer will speak to the child about their attendance. A letter with targets will be sent home to parents. If the targets are met, they are removed from stage one. However, if the targets are not met, the student will progress to stage two.

Stage Two Target normally set at 100% with review meetings to follow.

Parents will be invited into a meeting with the Director of Learning and the Student Services Officer. Targets will be agreed in the meeting. If the targets are not met, it will escalate to stage three. Students can be referred to ESBAS if it is felt that this will help support parents in getting their child to attend school.

Stage Three Target normally set at 100% with review meetings to follow.

Parents will attend a meeting with the Director of Learning and the Assistant Headteacher. The child will be referred to ESBAS if previously they were not in stage two. Targets will be set.

Stage Four Target normally set at 100% with review meetings to follow.

If attendance still fails to improve, parents will attend a meeting with the Head teacher and the Assistant Head Teacher to discuss poor attendance.

Summary Parents/carers are legally obliged to ensure the attendance of their children in full time education/training up until the last Friday in June of the academic year of their sixteenth birthday. Post 16 students in Year 12 must attend until all their sixth form courses and public examinations are completed. Post 16 students in Year 13 must attend until all their public examinations are completed. Parents/carers must inform the School, on the first day of absence, by telephone (and on subsequent days if the absence is unexpectedly prolonged). This system ensures that we all know the whereabouts of the students in our care. If a parent/carer has concerns over issues that might affect their child’s attendance, they should contact the Attendance Officer. The school has a legal duty to publish its attendance figures to parents/carers and to promote attendance. Equally, parents/carers have a duty to make sure that their children attend. Members of school staff are committed to working with parents/carers to ensure the highest level of attendance possible. Sixth Form Attendance Attendance You are required to attend all academic mentoring sessions as well as all lessons and timetabled private study periods. Punctuality is also extremely important. Those students who have a poor punctuality and attendance record whilst in Year 12 are unlikely to be invited back into Year 13. They may also be required to pay their own exam fees. Any financial support to students, particularly 16-19 Bursary Fund payments is also dependent on a good attendance and punctuality record. If you have a study period for any lesson you may leave the school, if you wish, but you must sign out and back in at the Main Sixth Form Office. Punctuality Sixth Formers should be punctual for all lessons. If students are persistently late for no good reason a sanction will be imposed. Sixth Formers should recognise that, if they were in paid employment, persistent lateness would probably lead to dismissal. Monitoring of attendance and punctuality A report is produced each week for the following marks – Late = codes L and U. The Sixth Form team will contact students to give them a chance to bring in a letter from home, any student who fails to bring in the necessary information will have the following sanctions applied:  Any bursary payments will not be authorised.  Students who are consistently late or miss lessons will be expected to attend study catch up sessions and will be notified of this by Mr Nicholls. Absence If you are ill get your parents to ring in before 10am on the 24 hour absence line 01323 872728, so that the Sixth Form Administrator knows. In addition you must bring a letter from your parents on your first day back in school. If you know you are going to be away bring a letter

beforehand, to the Head if it’s for a holiday; to Mr Nicholls a week before if it’s for a University visit; to the Sixth Form Administrator if it’s for an appointment – Doctor’s etc. If you are absent from school and we haven’t heard from you by lunchtime we are likely to contact your parents. We may do this even earlier if we think it is appropriate. Applications for absence from school We hope that you will always aim to plan activities to take place outside term time or after school hours. When this is not possible, written permission requesting your absence should be sought from the school. If the school accepts the application for absence, it will be recorded as authorised. If the school does not give permission or the application is made without reasonable notice, but the student is absent, it will be recorded as unauthorised.

SEAFORD HEAD SCHOOL Request for leave of absence during term time Please complete and return this form to the Attendance Officer, Student Services, Arundel Site at least 14 days before the requested period of absence. Student/s Name: …………………………………………….……Learning Mentor Group: …………………………. Home Address: ……………………………………………………………………………........................................... First Date of absence: .……………………………………Last Date of absence: .………………………………… Total Number of days requested: …………… Reason for absence: ……………………………………………………………………............................................. …………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………… I understand that if the absence request is unauthorised the Behaviour & Attendance Service will be notified of the holiday taken and a Penalty Notice will be issued. I understand that a Penalty is issued to each parent for each child taken out of school and that this is a fine of £60 which increases to £120 if not paid within the first 21 days but within 28 days of receipt of the Notice. I understand that failure to pay may result in legal action. Name of Parent/Carer making the application (Print): ……………………………………………………………….. Signed: ………………………………………………………..Date: …………………………………………... Name of other sibling (s) e.g. sister, step-brother etc.

Year Group

Name of School

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Absence request REPLY SLIP Student Name…………………………………………………

Date given to student……………………......

AUTHORISED for the following dates: ………………………………………….................................................... UNAUTHORISED for the following dates: ………………………………….......................................................... This will incur a Penalty Notice being issued. UNAUTHORISED for the following dates: …………………………………………............................................... No Penalty Notice will be issued.

REQUESTS FOR A HOLIDAY IN TERM TIME NOTICE TO PARENTS/CARERS

Dear Parents/Carers The law does not expect parents to take their children out of school for any reason during term time because any absence from school disrupts their learning. Parents may consider that a holiday is educational, but your child will still miss out on valuable teaching. Students returning from a holiday will be unprepared and will have to catch up on all their missed work. Statistical evidence shows that missing school directly impacts on students’ progress and their examination performance. The Department for Education does allow a head teacher the discretion to consider authorising a holiday in term time but only in very exceptional circumstances as follows: i)

Police & uniformed services who are prevented from taking holidays outside term-time as long as the holiday will have minimal disruption to the student’s education e.g. the directive issued during the London Olympics.

ii)

When a family needs to spend time together to support each other during or after a crisis e.g. a sudden bereavement. However, the school will take into consideration the circumstances in relation to the school calendar and with the expectation that the time will have a minimal disruption to the student’s education.

Any holiday will be routinely recorded as unauthorised in line with the governors’ policy. In the case of an unauthorised holiday of 5 days or more the Education Support, Behaviour & Attendance Service will be notified by the school of the holiday taken and a Penalty Notice will be issued. Please note that such a penalty is issued to each parent for each child taken out of school. A Penalty Notice is a fine of £60 which increases to £120 if not paid within the first 21 days. If the penalty remains unpaid this may result in legal action. All holiday requests must be completed on the attached form, letters will not be accepted. This must be returned to the school at least 14 days before the start of the absence. Failure to do so will automatically result in an unauthorised absence and a penalty fine if affecting 5 school days or more. We expect you to support our efforts to raise attendance and attainment at Seaford Head. Yours sincerely

Lynton K Golds Headteacher

Seaford Head School Achieving Excellence Together LETTER TO PARENTS Absence Request denied without penalty notice

Dear Thank you for your recent request for an absence in term time. Unfortunately, the school will not be able to authorise your request. Based on the information supplied we do not consider the circumstances to be special circumstances as defined by the Department for Education. It is understood that this decision might be upsetting. However, you should not take this personally; it is part of a national and local initiative and also follows County Council guidance. The consequence for your child taking this time out is that their absence during this period will be recorded as unauthorised. Please make contact with your child’s Director of Learning and/or Student Services Officer to find out what lessons will be missed and what work needs to be completed. Yours sincerely

Lynton K Golds Head teacher

Seaford Head Academy Trust Arundel Road, Seaford, East Sussex, BN25 4LX 01323 891623 / [email protected] / www.seafordhead.org Seaford Head Academy Trust is an exempt charity and a company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales Company No.8122

Seaford Head School Achieving Excellence Together LETTER TO PARENTS Absence Request denied with penalty notice

Dear Thank you for your recent request for an absence in term time. Unfortunately, the school will not be able to authorise your request. Based on the information supplied we do not consider the circumstances to be special circumstances as defined by the Department for Education. It is understood that this decision might be upsetting. However, you should not take this personally; it is part of a national and local initiative and also follows County Council guidance. The consequence for your child taking this time out is that their absence during this period will be recorded as unauthorised and that we will request a Penalty Notice to be issued by the local authority. Please understand that the paperwork cannot be processed for a penalty until your child returns to school and is marked present. If this happens prior to any school holiday, the process is delayed further until school resumes. Should you wish to appeal against this decision or present further evidence of special circumstances please write to the head teacher before the absence is taken. Please note that once a Penalty Notice has been issued there is no right of appeal. Please make contact with your child’s Director of Learning and/or Student Services Officer to find out what lessons will be missed and what work needs to be completed. Yours sincerely

Lynton K Golds Head teacher

Seaford Head Academy Trust Arundel Road, Seaford, East Sussex, BN25 4LX 01323 891623 / [email protected] / www.seafordhead.org Seaford Head Academy Trust is an exempt charity and a company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales Company No.8122579