Attendance

Attendance Expectations

Students should aim for 100% attendance as absence has a negative impact on performance.

The government expects schools to:

• promote good attendance and reduce absence, including persistent absence
• ensure every pupil has access to full-time education to which they are entitled
• act early to address patterns of absence

Attendance below 90% is classed as  persistence absence from school.

The government expects parents to:

• to perform their legal duty by ensuring their children of compulsory school age who are registered at school attend regularly

The following reasons for absence are not acceptable:

• care for family members or siblings
• parents’/carers’ work commitments or business trips
• holidays/family visits taken in term time
• parental/carer illness

Medical/Dental Appointments: It is important all non-emergency appointments be arranged outside school hours. Where it is unavoidable to book a medical appointment outside of the school day, we ask that they are made late in the afternoon so that students can access as much of their learning as possible. Medical appointment letters must be provided to enable any absence to be authorised as ‘medical’.

Requests for absence in term-time: Permission from the Headteacher must be sought for all absences that occur during term-time. An 'application for leave of absence form’ must be completed in advance of the absence taking place. Only the Headteacher can decide if the absence is to be authorised or unauthorised. Under current regulations, schools cannot authorise any holidays taken in term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. School will require evidence of exceptional circumstances, which should be attached to the 'application for leave of absence form’ and the judgement about what is exceptional will be made by the Principal.

Punctuality

Students should be  on the school site by 8.30am.  Students are expected to be in their form room by 8.40am.

Absence Procedures

Absence and First Day Call: If your child is unable to attend school you should inform school as soon as possible.  Please contact the Lady Royd School Office, as follows:

• Telephone: 01274 905 102
• E mail: office@lrps.bdat-academies.org

School must be contacted every day of the absence, before 8.20am.

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Response to Poor Attendance

If a students’ attendance falls below 95%, we will work with parents to support the child to improve and will work with them to  address the situation.  Where no improvement is made, we will request to meet with parents in school to discuss further. If there is still no significant improvement, referrals for penalty notice fines and legal prosecutions will be made. These will be administered by Bradford Local Authority.

Penalty Notice Fines: Regular and punctual attendance of students at school is both a legal requirement (Section 7 of the Education Act 1996) and essential for students to maximise the opportunities available to them to reach their full potential. It is parent(s)/carers responsibility to ensure their child/ren receive(s) efficient fulltime education. Where student attendance is poor without good reason, penalty notices and referrals for legal prosecution will be made to the local authority.