Attendance

At Archbishop Holgate’s School we take pride in our excellent attendance. We work very hard with our students and parents to strive for the very best attendance and punctuality for every student. Attendance is at the heart of great progress, developing social skills and friendships.

Why is Good Attendance so Important?

As a Church of England school we strive to ensure that all of our young people are cared for, given every opportunity to develop through academic study, to grow personally and spiritually and to live into being those Values we hold dear in our community and in wider society. Our role as a Church school is to help nurture both academic excellence and to help shape young people who can make a significant contribution to the community they serve. Key to this is a clear recognition that all students have individual gifts and talents and with support every young person can flourish.

We are very much aware of the impact that strong attendance has for children in all aspects of their school life and the negative impact that frequent absence can have. For example, recent studies are very clear that students who do not attend school on a regular basis (95% attendance and above) can suffer the following consequences:

Loss of learning that impacts negatively on a pupils’ progress at both Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4.
Lack of routine and structure impacts negatively on pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.

In our conversations regarding attendance, it is easy to overlook the impact that even minimal absence can have. However, the figures are quite startling. For example, a child with 89% attendance at the end of an academic year will have missed 21 days of school (over four school weeks of learning missed). It is easy to imagine the impact of missing so many lessons and time in school.

Whilst 89% is a positive achievement in an examination/test, 89% attendance would warrant a significant level of concern.

We believe that communication with parents and carers is absolutely key and we want to ensure that our dialogue with you is open, transparent and frequent. It is our aim that we always work with you in the understanding that strong attendance is very much in the best interest of the child, their wellbeing and their future.

Descriptor	Threshold Attendance	Learning Hours Lost
Excellent	100% 99%	0 10
Good	98% 97% 96%	20 30 37.5
Cause for Concern	95% 94% 93% 92% 91%	47.5 55 65 75 85
Unsatisfactory	90% 89% 88% 87%	95 105 115 125
Serious Cause for Concern	86%	135
Critical	85% 84% 83% 82% 81% 80%	142.5 152.5 160 170 180 190

The Attendance Team

The attendance team is on hand to assist in removing any attendance barrier and support your child into school. Please feel free to contact a member of the team on 01904 411341 should you have any concerns regarding your child’s attendance.

Nick Avery

Assistant Head in charge of attendance

Lucy Ashcroft

]Attendance Officer

Parent Responsibilities to Ensure Excellent Attendance:

Make sure your child attends every day on time
Report their child’s absence before the start of school (8.45am) on each day of absence, and advise when they are expected to return by either phoning school 01904 411341 or using the ClassCharts App
Ensure that, where possible, appointments for their child are made outside of the school day
Avoid taking holidays in school time.

Parent can support strong attendance by:

Establish good attendance habits by acting as a role model and showing the children that good attendance and punctuality is important.
Praise and reward good attendance: even small successes, e.g. getting ready quickly, even if resisting going to school.
Talk regularly with their child about school and how they feel about it. Children are more likely to want to attend and learn if they feel supported and their anxieties are listened to.
Know routines of the school day to avoid issues, e.g. ensuring children have their PE kits on the right days.
Establish a good bedtime routine, so that their child can sleep well, get enough sleep and make mornings less of a struggle.

Is my child too ill for school

The following websites are useful in helping to decide if your child should attend school due to illness:

Approval for term-time absence

The headteacher will only grant a leave of absence to a pupil during term time if they consider there to be ‘exceptional circumstances’. A leave of absence is granted at the headteacher’s discretion, including the length of time the pupil is authorised to be absent for.

Exceptional circumstances are one off events which are unavoidable, examples may include the death of a close relative, attendance at a funeral, a religious holiday, respite care of a looked after child, a housing crisis which prevents attendance.

The school considers each application for term-time absence individually, taking into account the specific facts, circumstances and relevant context behind the request.

To submit a request for a ‘leave of absence’, please CLICK HERE.

Any request should be submitted (in writing) as soon as it is anticipated and, where possible, at least 2 weeks before the absence. The headteacher may require evidence to support any request for leave of absence.

Rewarding Excellent Attendance

We feel it is important to recognise and reward those students who are consistently attending school. We have divided our reward system into short, medium and long term

Reward and Recognise Attendance Success in the Short Term

Individual students highlighted and praised for 100% attendance in the Act of Collective Worship on a weekly basis.
Students will be awarded badges for 100% attendance.
Students will be granted a range of ‘perks’ for their 100% club membership, including fast track dinner passes.
Best form attendance of the week prizes.
Most improved form attendance prizes.
Break time rewards for students who move up the attendance tiers.
100% form attendance in a week special prize.

Reward and Recognise Attendance Success in the Medium Term

‘Come In to win’ – Half termly prizes for pupils in each year group.
Students receive Half Termly Attendance Certificates for those over 95% and above.
Students with 100% attendance will receive a letter home praising their success.
Form group attendance competitions and prizes over Half Term.
‘Challenge 21’ periods in school with prizes on offer to students who complete this.
Break time rewards for students who move up tiers.

Reward and Recognise Attendance Success in the Long Term

Students with over 95% attendance at the end of the school year will access special end of year rewards.
Students with 100% attendance at the end of the year will receive a letter home praising their success.
100% attendance students in each year group will enter a draw for a ‘top tier’ prize at the end of the academic year.
Students with 100% at the end of the year will have bacon sandwiches with the headteacher to recognise their achievement.

Importance of Punctuality

It is important to arrive at school on time as frequent lateness adds up to a lot of lost learning.

We expect our students to be in school to register no later than 8:45am each morning.

If there is an issue preventing your child from attending school on time, please contact a member of the attendance team as soon as possible.