Attendance, behaviour and attitudes

Information for students, parents and carers on punctuality and attendance

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How do we encourage good attendance?

Creating a positive environment where young people feel safe and secure. Making our school a harmonious, rewarding and interesting place to be. Developing a system of rewards for good attendance and punctuality.
Being sympathetic and supportive to pupils who experience problems in school. Ensuring careful monitoring of attendance data regularly takes place. Reminding parents/carers of their responsibilities regarding attendance and punctuality.
Offering help and advice to resolve any difficulties the pupil or parents may have in fulfilling these responsibilities.
Establish a mechanism for working with those parents/carers who are concerned that their children may be experiencing difficulty in attending school.
Involving the outside agencies or relevant professionals in tackling attendance issues.
Having strict policies to keep your child safe.
Operating clear boundaries and sanctions to prevent young people from truanting. Meeting with parents and students who have unauthorised absences. Providing strategies to promote good attendance.
Celebrating good attendance with a range of rewards such as trips, gifts and special acknowledgement creating a sense of belonging and culture of discipline.

Punctuality...

School starts at:

8.30 am

Doors open at:

8.00 am

If your child arrives after 08.30am they will need to sign in at the attendance area and be marked as late. Your child will be asked to give the reason why they are late and will receive a C3 (30-minute detention). If a child arrives beyond 09:30am they will be given a 60-minute detention for excessive lateness. Five lates in a month will trigger an Attendance Review Meeting.

A good start to the day is essential for young people and is an important habit to learn whilst they are young. It is a key skill employers look for in candidates for jobs.

Monitoring Attendance

We have a legal requirement to monitor children’s attendance at school and we do this on a day-to-day basis. If your child’s attendance causes concern we will contact you by letter, telephone or home visit. Your child could be placed on an attendance improvement plan if their attendance reaches 90% (AIP).

Concerns

All parents/carers will receive a letter if their child’s attendance is below 97%.
If attendance continues to be below 97% we will talk to you and may involve outside agencies to support you and your child, to improve their attendance.

Leaving Site

It is not the policy of Bournville to allow our students to leave site at break or lunch, unless they are signed out by a parent/carer personally for an appointment, with written evidence provided regarding the appointment.

Appointments

All appointments should be scheduled outside of school hours if possible and prior to the student leaving, a letter or email of evidence is required to authorize any absence.

PLEASE NOTE IF A STUDENT ARRIVES TO SCHOOL BEYOND 09:30AM THEY WILL NOT RECEIVE THEIR AM MARK AND WILL THEREFORE ONLY ACHIEVE 50% OF THEIR DAILY ATTENDANCE.

Absence during Term Time

All planned absences should be requested in advance or as quickly as possible. This includes bereavements, emergency hospital appointments, operations etc..

Please note that parents/carers are not entitled to take their child out of school during term time. Government regulations state that only the Academy can authorise absences; parents/carers cannot do this.

We will examine all requests for extenuating circumstances. If there is not sufficient reason, then a leave of absence will be declined and recorded as unauthorised in the register. A holiday during term time without authorisation when the level of absence is in excess of 3 days (6 sessions) in total over a 6-week rolling period, can result in a request for the Local Authority to issue Penalty Notices to each parent for each child.

Potential Legal Action

Legal Proceedings may be taken by the Academy or Local Education Authority against parents where young people have a high level of unauthorised absence.

This may be in the form of:

Research suggests that 17 missed school days a year = A GCSE grade DROP in achievement. (DfE)

If your child is seriously ill, please ring the office before 10am.

Number: 0121 475 3881

Email: attendance@bournville.fmat.co.uk

Reasons that will NOT be granted authorised absence, supported by the LA.

The weather being too cold or hot. If the weather is too extreme for school, the school will enact a whole school closure, otherwise students are expected to be in school.
Relationship breakdowns. We have an excellent Pastoral team and we will help repair relationships and safeguard children, but falling out with peers is not a valid reason to refuse school.
Not having a car. Parents/guardians are expected to arrange transport for their children to get to school punctually.
Not liking a particular lesson. If students find a lesson challenging, we will support them.
“Not feeling 100%”. Throughout the academic year it is inevitable that we will encounter days that we are slightly under the weather or “feeling pain”. We must show resilience and attend school when possible.
Holidays during term time. Booking holidays during term time is unacceptable outside of extreme circumstances.
Not having correct uniform/footwear. We will support students with this as much as we can but ultimately, parents/guardians must ensure their children have the correct uniform.
Booking doctor, dentist or optician appointments during school time. Unless it is an emergency, appointments should be booked outside of school hours. Non-student related appointments are also not permitted for authorised absence, unless under extreme circumstances.
Waking up late. Waking up late will not be authorised but you should ensure that your child gets to school as soon as possible in this instance.

Positive Points in School and Rewards

Positive points are given to all students for the above.
To maximize positive points, we encourage students to attend school every day.
Students can gain points for their performance in classrooms, attendance, punctuality and contributions to our school ethos.
These positive points build up and eventually enable our students to access bigger prizes and rewards such as; school trips, iPad raffles, One4All vouchers, Pizza and Popcorn movie afternoons and our end of week rewards.
These positive points also contribute to house points (Austin, Boulton, Cadbury and Tolkien). The houses and form groups with the most points.

Supporting your child’s attendance

Find out your child’s absence regularly and check if this correlates with your own record.
Talk regularly with your child about school and how they feel about it. Children are more likely to attend if they feel supported and anxieties are listened to.
Phone us as soon as possible to tell us why your child is absent, and when you expect them to return. Putting the school number in your phone can save you time. Know the Academy routine for alerting you to absence.
Only grant days at home for genuine illness - you’ll know the difference!
Avoid taking holidays in school time.
Know routines of the school day to avoid issues, e.g. have they got their PE kit?
If you have concerns, phone us – we will check attendance and be discreet.
Praise and reward good attendance: even small successes such as going into the Academy promptly even if they are not fond of their first lesson.
If there is a problem with your child’s attendance, talk calmly to your child and listen to the explanation. There is always an explanation; it may not impress you, but it counted enough with your child to make them truant. Pursuing the reason for non-attendance is important and sharing it with the school so we can tackle it as a team.
Talk to us to resolve issues. We can help and support you and your child. You are not alone.
Be particularly watchful and supportive in the run up to tests and aware of coursework deadlines.
Check the homework diary regularly for gaps as well as completed activities. Help them catch up with missed work.
Remember to give praise for good attendance!