Attendance

Absence from school during the year will reduce a child’s chances of success, will lead to gaps in knowledge and understanding, and will eventually have an impact on exam grades. We will monitor attendance and absence carefully.  For this reason:

• If a child is sick or unable to attend, parents/carers must call the school telephone number (0191 386 6628 Option 1) before 8.30am on each day of absence
• The school will contact parents/carers by text or email if a child is absent and we do not know why
• The only legally acceptable reasons for not being in school are illness and medical appointments. Other absences may be authorised by the school, such as dates of religious observance
• Wherever possible medical or other appointments should be made for times outside of the school day
• The school will not authorise any leave of absence due to family holidays, unless there are exceptional circumstances. Any parents/carers taking children out of school during term-time without authorisation by the Headteacher may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice.

Each week our students receive a coloured dot in their planners so that parents/carers are aware of which attendance zone their child is in. This will also help pastoral staff to monitor attendance and implement support and intervention where necessary. Half termly letters will be issued to parents/carers to make them aware of specific attendance totals and these will also be available on Parent App. Please note that the processes outlined here do not apply to those students with long-term health conditions, and support for them is managed differently.

The colour zones are:

GOLD: 100 – 98% (Excellent) 

GREEN: 97.9 – 96% (Very Good) 

BLUE: 95.9 – 94% (Good/Satisfactory) 

ORANGE: 93.9 – 92% (Caution!)

YELLOW: 91.9 – 90% (Warning)

RED: Below 90% (Serious Concern) 

A child regularly arriving late to school will lose valuable learning time. For example, a child arriving:

• 10 minutes late each day loses nearly 7 days of learning each year
• 20 minutes late each day loses nearly 13 days of learning each year

Students are expected to arrive on the school site by 8.25am each day, in order to attend registration and start learning at 8.30am.  If they arrive late for school, they must sign in at Student Reception where they will be issued with a late slip.  The students will be issued with a behaviour point and persistent lateness to school (3 incidents in a half term) will lead to an hour’s leadership detention for the next late and every late thereafter.