Attendance

Why does Attendance matter?

There is a clear link between poor attendance at school and lower academic achievement, in a nutshell – how can our children learn if they are not here?

A child with less than 90% attendance will have missed more than 114 lessons per year, almost an entire half term
A child who is absent a day of school per week misses an equivalent of two years of their school life
Of pupils with less than 50% attendance, only 3% manage to achieve five or more GCSE’s at grade 9-5 including Maths and English
Poor examination results limit young people’s options and poor attendance suggests to colleges and employers that these students are unreliable
Poor school attendance is also closely associated with crime - a quarter of school age offenders have truanted repeatedly

What we are doing?

At Goresbrook School we are working hard to identify early concerns and issues which may be affecting your child’s attendance.

we continuously promote the importance of good attendance throughout the school
we have robust monitoring processes with corresponding action plans in place as outlined below
we ensure extensive support is offered to those who experience difficulties with punctuality and/or attendance
we issue termly attendance updates for parents/carers

Attendance Monitoring Process

Please click on the coloured bars to view the corresponding actions which take place.

If your child’s attendance fails to improve, you will be required to attend fortnightly meetings and your child will be placed on an attendance support plan. Your case may be passed onto Barking and Dagenham Education and Welfare Service who will then take further action to bring about a prosecution for non-school attendance/unsatisfactory school attendance

Blue: 100%

Your child has excellent attendance

Monitored by teacher/coach and school office
Half-termly certificate for outstanding attendance and punctuality are awarded
Children who achieve 100% attendance and punctuality for the entire term receive a special certificate in recognition of their efforts

Green: 97-99%

Your child has good attendance

Monitored by school office and attendance officer

Amber: 90-96%

Your child’s attendance is a concern and you will receive a letter to say we are monitoring it. This is the equivalent of between ½ a day to 1 day absent per fortnight

Letter 1, 2 and 3 are sent to parents/carers (reflective of what their child’s attendance is).
When a child’s attendance falls below 94% parents meet with the Attendance and Welfare Officer.
Fixed Penalty Notice where appropriate.
Referral to the Governors Attendance Panel (where there has been insufficient improvement).

Red: <90%

Your child’s attendance is a serious concern. Your child is classed as a ‘Persistent Absentee’. This is the equivalent of more than ½ a day absent per week

Meeting with the Attendance officer and/or EWO
Attendance Support Plan set up in school
Fixed Penalty Notice (where appropriate)
Court Action (where appropriate)
CAF (where appropriate)
Referral to the Governors attendance panel

Reporting Absence

If your child is unable to attend school, you must notify us by 8am using one of the methods below. The school should be updated on each and every day of absence.

Phone	Please use the Pupil Absence Line on 0203 597 6666 and select Option 1 to leave your message – you must clearly state your child’s name, class and reason for absence.
Email	Absence related emails should be sent to secondaryattendance@goresbrookschool.org.uk (this includes notifying school of appointments) When reporting absences by email, you must include your child's year group in the subject box.

On return to school you will need to provide a signed letter or complete an orange Return to School form. These can be found in the Parent Information Area at Main Reception or at Secondary Reception. Please be reminded that absences of more than 2 days require medical evidence such as a copy of prescription and/or an appointment card.

Lates Procedure

Secondary pupils should arrive at school for an 8:30am start. Arriving after this time will result in a late mark. Pupils arriving at school late will be issued with a 30 minute Rerouting Session for the same day and parents/carers will be notified by email. Pupils are required to attend the Rerouting Session. Only pupils who have pre-arranged absences such as medical appointments will be allowed to postpone the session.

Leave of Absence

If you need to request a planned absence for your child this must be done in writing to the Principal. Each request will be considered individually. Goresbrook School strongly discourages parents from planning holidays or other absences during term-time. Your child’s learning and achievement are our top priority and any absences from school will negatively impact your childs attainment and their future life chances.

Medical Appointments

As per our Attendance & Punctuality Policy, medical appointments should be made outside of school hours where possible. Where this is not possible, the school require at least 2 days' notice for all medical appointments, excluding emergency appointments. You must inform the school immediately of any emergency appointments.

How Medical Absence Affects Attendance Rewards

All absences, whether authorised or not, will affect a child’s overall attendance percentage. If your child is absent from school due to a medical appointment, they will not achieve 100% attendance for that week and therefore will not receive a reward as a result of the absence.

The only children who are exempt from this, are those who have lifelong/long-term medical conditions* which require them to attend hospital appointments. In order to receive an attendance reward, the following criteria must be met:

A pupil has a lifelong/long-term* medical condition which requires them to attend hospital appointments
A pupil has hospital appointments that they need to attend and there is no flexibility as to the time and date of these hospital appointments
A pupil has medical evidence that they have hospital appointments they need to attend and a copy of the evidence is given to school in advance of the appointment
A pupil attends school before and after the hospital appointment where possible (at the discretion and judgement of the Attendance and Welfare Officer)
The hospital appointment is pre-planned and scheduled in advance. It is part of the on-going treatment/monitoring of the medical condition
Emergency hospital appointments in response to an unexpected issue that has arisen do not count in this exception to the issuing of rewards

*A medical condition that will require more than one academic year of treatment

Please note: GP appointments will not be taken into consideration

Secondary