Attendance

Marlborough Road Academy is committed to providing all of our pupils with a suitable and effective education in a safe, supportive and happy environment.

We are an inclusive school working in partnership with parents and carers to achieve good attendance and punctuality enabling pupils to achieve their full potential.

We take attendance very seriously because there is clear evidence that any absence from school can and does impact on children’s attainment. Pupils with regular, on time attendance achieve higher grades, make more friends, enjoy school and learn positive habits that contribute to their personal and future career success.

Illness

If your child is unwell, you need to let us know by 9.30am on the first day of absence, otherwise an unauthorised absence mark will be entered into the register. Ten unauthorised absence marks in a school year may result in a penalty notice* being issued.

Following the first half term, parents and carers of those children with less than 90% attendance will be requested to provide medical evidence before further absence can be authorised.

What can parents do to encourage regular school attendance?

• Set regular patterns of attendance from when your child starts school.
• Take an interest in your child’s school life by talking to your child about school and what goes on there.
• Contact us as soon as your child is experiencing any difficulties and work with us in any way you can to help your child to overcome any difficulties.
• Attend Parent’s Evenings.
• Don’t condone absence, make medical and dental appointments outside of school time whenever possible.
• Let the school know the reason for any absence before 9.30am on the first day so that this can be entered into the register.
• If your child has to be late for whatever reason inform school beforehand or before 9.00am on the day.
• Try to make non urgent appointments for outside of school hours and always return to school after an appointment.

The school sets a target of 96% attendance annually and this is discussed regularly with both pupils and parents. To encourage active steps towards meeting this a weekly attendance trophy is presented to the class with the highest attendance (pupils with exceptional / serious medical circumstances are removed from this calculation, so as not to adversely affect outcomes). In addition, the weekly attendance figure is published in the school's newsletter, attendance figures are shared with parents at parents evening and progress towards the target forms part of the Principal's letters home. 

Holidays in term time

Requests for leave of absence in term time will not be approved unless the Principal considers there to be exceptional circumstances.

What is likely to happen if my child does not attend school regularly?

• The attendance officer in school will contact you on the first day of absence.
• Prolonged, frequent or odd day absences will lead to the school referring your child to the Education Welfare Officer (EWO). The EWO will then invite you to a panel meeting to discuss your child’s absence.
• The EWO will offer to assist you with any difficulties you may be experiencing regarding your child’s attendance.
• If we are concerned about the amount of time your child is absent through illness we will refer you to the School Health Advisor.
• Parents who co-operate fully to improve their child’s attendance are less likely to receive a penalty notice* or face further court action.

For more detailed guidance please read the Attendance Policy

Penalty Notice for an Unauthorised Holiday during Term Time

• Only TWO HPN’s can be requested per Academic Year for any one child, after which an Aggravated offence will be committed and a Final Warning will be issued.

• Should a family take THREE or more holidays in one academic year an Aggravated offence has been committed and the Local Authority will action the Final Warning.

Is Your Child Missing Out?

Focus on Attendance and Punctuality

Research has shown that regular attendance and good punctuality are crucial factors in children achieving their full potential in education. At Marlborough Road Academy we wish to work in partnership with parents and carers and so are seeking your full support in ensuring that your child attends the academy every day and on time. We are always pleased to work together with parents/carers in resolving any difficulties, but we are also committed to improving attendance levels at the academy.

The target attendance figure for all children is a minimum of 97% attendance. Based on current attendance figures your child will be placed in one of the following groups below.

Your child will be informed of their Attendance Group by their Class Teacher. Marlborough Road Academy are monitoring children closely whose attendance is falling and will contact you if your child’s attendance does not improve. As a parent/carer you are committing an offence if you fail to ensure that your child attends the academy regularly and punctually, even if they are missing school without your knowledge. It is important that parents/carers monitor single day’s absence, as these days soon add up to weeks.

At Marlborough Road Academy we reward children who attend the academy each day and whose attendance is improving. Children are also rewarded for good punctuality.  The class with the highest attendance each week in each key stage has a non uniform day the following week.

If you are concerned about this new ‘Focus on Attendance’, there are important steps that you can take:

• Ensure your child attends every day, on time, equipped and ready to learn. Lesson time begins at 8.50am and all children need to be onsite by 8.40am. Children arriving after 9.00am will be classed as late and those arriving after 9.30am may be marked absent and will require an explanatory note or the absence will remain un-authorised.
• Ensure the academy has up-to-date addresses and telephone numbers. We will contact you if your child is absent and you have not contacted the academy. This ensures that the absence is quickly identified.
• If your child is ill, contact the academy on the first day of absence and provide an explanatory note on their return to the academy.
• If you wish to check that your child has arrived at the academy contact the academy’s Attendance Lead, Miss Wileman. She will inform you if your child has been registered.
• If no contact is received regarding the absence, it is recorded as un-authorised. Ultimately the academy is responsible for deciding if the absence is acceptable or not. Only genuine absence will be authorised. You will be asked to provide medical certificates if your child has a poor attendance record.
• Ensure that medical appointments are made outside of academy time.
• Avoid trivial absences such as, ‘buying new shoes’. This would not be accepted as a reasonable absence.
• Holidays should not be taken in academy time. Any Leave of Absence can only be agreed by the Principal and only agreed where there are exceptional circumstances.
• Respond to letters or telephone calls regarding attendance and punctuality.
• Contact your child’s class teacher if you are experiencing difficulty in getting your child into the academy.

Thank you for working in partnership with us to achieve the highest possible levels of attendance and punctuality at Marlborough Road Academy.

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