Attendance - Grange Academy

Attendance

Good attendance at school is key to success. Missing school for any reason can cause your child to fall behind in their learning.

Sometimes children also find it difficult to settle back into school after a break.

In the longer term, evidence shows that reduced levels of attendance are likely to affect the progress of any child, whatever their needs or ability, and can also result in lower levels of qualifications being achieved.

At Grange Academy we consider 96% and above to be good attendance.

If your child manages this then you are giving them the opportunity to achieve and succeed, not just now but throughout their life.

What to do if your Child is Unwell

It’s important that you contact us as soon as possible on the first day of any absence by phoning school on 01234 407100.

We’ll need to know the reason for the absence so that we can record it correctly. If your child is absent for more than one day it’s essential that you keep us updated on a daily basis or give us a definite return date.

If you don’t contact school you will receive a telephone call, or text, asking you to explain your child’s absence.

Following up absences in this way is a legal obligation for all schools but we also do it to make sure your child is safe and that you are aware that they are not in school.

In the case of unexplained and/or persistent absence, you will be contacted in the first instance by our Attendance Officer, Miss Ashton-Lewis, and will be sent a letter informing you of your child’s attendance level.

Please also be aware that where pupils miss a lot of school through illness, schools are expected to investigate, and where appropriate, request medical evidence before agreeing to authorise such absences.

Your co-operation and support in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Our full Attendance Policy can be viewed here:

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Attendance Policy

Holidays During Term Time

Missing school for any reason is likely to hinder a child’s educational opportunities and hamper their progress at school. Although we acknowledge that parents may sometimes prefer to take holidays outside of school holidays, this has to be balanced against the effect on their child’s progress at school.

The effect of this change means that the government expects it to be extremely unusual for leave of absence, including for holidays in term time, to be permitted by schools.

If due to exceptional reasons you do need to request leave of absence please speak to our Attendance Officer, Miss Ashton-Lewis in the first instance.

Both the school and the Local Authority take the issue of school attendance very seriously and parents should be aware that where leave of absence is taken during term time without permission they may be issued with Education Penalty Notice fines of £60 (rising to £120) per parent per child by the Local Authority.

Rewarding Good Attendance

We encourage and reward good attendance by operating an attendance incentive programme which helps pupils to monitor their own attendance. Inclusion in our half-termly rewards afternoons is also conditional on good attendance.

Working Together

We very much appreciate your support in both encouraging good attendance and keeping us informed if your child is absent.

It’s also important to let us know if you think your child may be making excuses not to come to school, this can be a sign of friendship difficulties or worries about school and it’s important we know about these as soon as possible.

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Grange Academy is a Unicef Gold Rights Respecting School and Gold Artsmark School. Ofsted rated ‘Good’ (May 2022).
Telephone: 01234 407100 – Office Email: grange@biltt.org

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