Attendance
Our Attendance Officer – Mrs E Webb
T: 01709 863109 E: info@rowenaacademy.org.uk
Here at Rowena Academy we aim to give your children the very best education possible, so please don’t let your child miss out by poor attendance and lateness.
It is essential that your child attends school on time every day.
All children who are between 5 and 18 years old are entitled to a full time education.
- Most parents want their children to be happy and achieve.
- Children only get one chance at school, and poor attendance could affect your child’s chances of a successful future.
- Parents/carers are responsible for making sure that their children attend school regularly.
- The Local Authority is responsible for making sure that parents/carers meet their responsibilities.
School has a statutory duty to keep your child safe which includes knowing where they are if they are not in school. We appreciate that children are sometimes genuinely ill. If your child is going to be absent due to illness, please inform the office by 8:40am on every day of absence.
If you do not contact the office, school will ring you followed by every contact number we hold for your child until we speak to somebody. If your child is absent for two consecutive days and we are unable to contact anybody, we will visit the family home in order to ensure that your child/ children are safe and well. If we are still unable to contact a named contact then we may call 101 in order to seek the police’s assistance in locating the family.
Please note that the Education Welfare Officer may also intervene with cases below 96%.
Rewards for Good Attendance and Punctuality
At Rowena Academy, we recognise the importance of good attendance and punctuality and as a result we reward the children in the following ways:
- Individual Certificates for 97%+ attendance each half-term
- Termly Reward for the class with the best attendance
- Weekly Class Certificates for the class with the best attendance
- Class Rewards for classes with 100% attendance in one week
- Half Termly Rewards for individuals with 100% attendance each half-term
- Reward Raffles for individuals with 97%+ attendance each half-term
Punctuality – BE HOT! (Here on Time)
Punctuality is just as important as attendance because minutes late add up to lost learning time, and this very quickly builds up to missed days! Did you know, being 15 minutes late each day means your child will have missed 2 whole weeks of school during the school year! This has a serious impact on education. Take a look at the poster below to show the impact of missed days and lateness.
Rowena Academy Attendance Procedures
If your child’s attendance drops below 96% without good reason, you will receive letter 1 informing you that we are concerned.
If there are further absences, letter 2 will be sent.
Following letter 1 and letter 2, if there is no improvement in your child’s attendance then the following actions may be taken:
- Home Visit from the Head of Academy, Attendance Lead and/or Education Welfare Officer
- Education Penalty Notice Warning Letter
- Invite to Attendance Support Plan Meeting
- Voice of the Child
- Education Penalty Notice
- Court Proceedings
Unavoidable Medical Appointments
We appreciate that some children have unavoidable medical appointments during term time such as speech and language or hospital appointments. All we ask is that you provide a copy of the appointment letter. Although we cannot mark a child present who is attending an unavoidable medical appointment, if these are their only absences, 100% rewards will not be affected. This only applies to unavoidable medical appointments such as those stated above, and not to routine appointments such as dental and opticians which can be made outside of school hours.
Authorised and Unauthorised Absences
There may be times when your child has to miss school because they are ill in which case you should contact the Academy on the first day of absence on 01709 863109.
- If you think you might need to take your child out of school for any reason, discuss this with the school as soon as possible.
- Reasons such as a family bereavement or a religious event are acceptable for short absences.
- Unacceptable reasons for missing school include shopping, haircuts, birthdays and unauthorised holidays.
What happens if my child does not attend school regularly?
- When a child’s attendance drops below the expected level of 96%, the Attendance Officer will contact parents/carers.
- Advice and support around improving your child’s attendance will be available to you.
- If school attendance does not improve, the Local Authority may issue an EPN (Education Penalty Notice).
Holidays & Leave of Absence During Term Time
The Government has implemented legislation stating that no requests for holidays can be authorised and leave of absence may only be authorised in exceptional circumstances.
When a parent /carer feels that they have exceptional circumstances and wishes to apply to take their child out of school during term time they must complete a leave of absence form and submit it to the school at least 4 weeks before the proposed date of leave of absence.
If you take your child on holiday during term time the Local Authority may issue a Fixed Penalty Notice.
Holidays during term time will not be authorised and an Education Penalty Notice may be requested from the local authority. If you are planning to remove your child from school to take them on holiday, please complete a Leave of Absence form, available from the office. Please be aware that if you do not complete a Leave of Absence form or inform school that you are taking your child on holiday but school has good reason to believe they are absent due to holiday, then an Education Penalty notice will still be requested.
Please see the below letter with updated information about fines for missed days at school:
See our Attendance documentation and links below:
