Attendance at our academy

We want all of our students to attend school every day  it is open. We want all students to climb their mountain to university or a real alternative and we know great attendance is a huge part of this. Missing school means missing out on building friendships, exciting learning opportunities and developing in ways essential for a student's future success. There is a clear link between literacy and numeracy skills development and poor attendance at primary. In secondary, 19 days of absence over a year correlates to over a grade lost at GCSE.

​​Daily attendance expectations​ 

• It is essential that all students arrive at the academy in plenty of time to organise themselves for the start of their day.  

• The academy opens at 8:00 am for students to ensure they are fully equipped and ready for their morning meeting to start at 8:20 

• Breakfast is served from 8:00 am to support students in having a good start to their day. 

• All students must arrive and be present in their morning meeting by 8:18am. 

• Arriving after 8:20 am is late and will incur a late mark and a punctuality correction (30 minutes). This is to ensure all students can hand their homework in and get their belongings organised and ready for the start of learning at 8:20am. 

• If arriving after 8:20 am students must sign in via reception and will be given a late slip, they must then promptly go to their locker to collect their equipment for the day and place any coats or bags in their locker. Once students have been to their lockers, they must make their way to their morning meeting or their first lesson of the day. 

•  Students are given 5 minutes to independently transition to their learning space, if they take more than 5 minutes they will be given a second punctuality correction (30 minutes).  

• If a student arrives after 9 am, they will be marked absent for the morning session (issued with a U code).This counts as an unauthorised absence and impacts their attendance figure. 

​​Reporting absence – morning illness​ 

We know there are occasionally reasons why your child will not be able to attend the academy. If a child is ill / off school with no advance notice, families must: 

• Call the school that morning, before 8:00am on the dedicated attendance line 0113 5125510 option 1.

• Leave a message on the answerphone if the office is not open. A member of the attendance team may return your call to discuss the absence and obtain further information.  

• Call the school on any subsequent days of absence before 8:00am.

• If a family fails to let the school know of the reason for a student’s absence, it will be recorded as unauthorised.   

• Where we have not heard about a student’s absence from a family member, we will call to try and ascertain the whereabouts of the student. If we do not hear from a family member, we may conduct a home visit to establish that everything is ok.  

• After 3 days of absence or in some cases sooner, a member of academy staff may conduct a home visit. This is to support families and to try and minimise the impact of prolonged absence from school as every day of missed learning is an opportunity wasted.  

Reasons for absence

The law in the UK requires all children between the ages of 5-16 attend school regularly. Families are responsible to make sure children attend school every day unless there is a valid reason for absence. Valid reasons for absence could be:

• Illness (where a student is not physically or mentally well enough to undertake normal activities).

• Religious observance (up to two days per year - where the religious body has set aside days as religious days and the academy has been informed in advance)

• The local authority is responsible for arranging transport for your child but it is not available on that day or has not been provided.

• You have applied in advance due to exceptional circumstances and have been given permission for your child to be absent.

Reasons for absence that would not be valid would be:

• Headaches, coughs or colds, period pains, tummy aches or tiredness.

• A whole day for a medical appointment.

• A holiday or travel for any purpose during term time.

• A sibling or parent being unwell. 

Medical and dental appointments

Only emergency appointments for dentists, opticians and doctors should be during school hours. Routine appointments must be made out of school hours. When it is known in advance that an absence is to be requested for emergency appointments, a leave of absence form must be completed. These can be requested from reception. Students should be out of school for the minimum time necessary for the appointment. Please ensure you provide proof of your appointment so that the attendance officer can authorise the absence. 

Who to speak to

If you have worries, concerns or questions about your child's attendance at school, or need some support from staff members you can contact:

• John Heads (Senior Vice Principal)

• Kam Plahe (Assistant Vice Principal with responsibility for attendance)

• Muhammad Hamid (Attendance and Behaviour Manager)

• Syeda Begum (Attendance Officer)

If you have a safeguarding or well-being concern about your child and their attendance at school, please contact:

• Rebeca Labella (All-through safeguarding lead)

• Jo St Ange (Safeguarding officer)

• Helen Simpson (Safegurading officer)

• Iram Ellahi (SENDCO)