Attendance

Absence

If your child is absent, please ensure it is for a genuine illness or emergency only. Please phone the school’s attendance office every day of absence, to notify school of the absence explaining the reason and length of absence expected. Please let school know by 8.15am. The number is 01457764006

Please make all medical or dental appointments after school where possible. If an appointment during school time is unavoidable, please send the appointment card into school with your child.  If your child is absent for 3 days or more, or if you have received an attendance letter from school requesting medical evidence for absences, we kindly ask that you provide some form of medical evidence in order for us to authorise the absence (copy of doctor’s appointment card, copy of a prescription, doctor’s letter, etc.).  Students should return to school as soon as possible after their period of illness.

Attendance and Punctuality - Information for Parents

Great Attendance = Great Achievement! There is a link between good attendance and high achievement. Students who have excellent attendance (97% or above) are more likely to succeed at school. That’s why, at Longdendale High School, we encourage all of our students to aim for 100% attendance; anything less than 97% is no longer good attendance.

Frequent absences, can really add up and be harmful to your child’s progress at school:

 

How many days and lessons will I miss in…

A week?

A year?

5 years?

My % attendance is…

100%

0 days

0 days

0 days

95%

0.25 days/1 lesson

10 days/50 lessons

50 days/250 lessons

90%

0.5 days/3 lessons

20 days/100 lessons

100 days/500 lessons

85%

0.75 days/4 lessons

30 days/150 lessons

150 days/750 lessons

80%

1 day/5 lessons

40 days/200 lessons

200 days/1,000 lessons

Persistent Absence: A student is deemed to be “Persistently Absent” if they have attendance below 90%.

Medical Appointments: Whilst we recognise that it is not always possible to do so, we ask that you please try and arrange all medical appointments for after school or in the school holidays. Where students have an appointment during school hours we ask that, where possible, you send your son/daughter into school before and/or after the appointment. A full day of absence is not necessary for a medical appointment. The school requires a copy of the medical appointment card/letter in order to authorise the time away from school.

Legal Consequences: Legally, the parents of a student with attendance below 90% could be prosecuted under the Education Act (1996). The Borough Solicitor may consider an offence under section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996 which carries a maximum fine of £1000. If the Borough Solicitor determines that there is sufficient evidence to prosecute you for an offence under section 444(1a) of the Education Act 1996 for knowingly allowing your child to fail to regularly attend school, this would carry a sentence of a maximum 3 months imprisonment and/or a fine of £2,500. If a child has 10 or more sessions of unauthorised absence over a twelve week period, parents could also be issued with a Penalty Notice Fine of up to £120 per parent.

Holidays in Term Time: Legislation states that “The Head Teacher may not grant any leave of absence unless there are exceptional circumstances”. Family holidays no longer constitute exceptional circumstances and consequently will not be authorised. Parents/carers must apply to the Head Teacher using the school's 'Application for Exceptional Leave of Absence During Term Time request form' available under the 'Attendance Tab' if they wish their child to have a leave of absence in term time, detailing when the absence will take place and the exceptional circumstances behind the absence. Parents who take their child out of school in term time without the permission of the Head Teacher may be issued with a Penalty Notice fine of up to £120 per child.

Punctuality: All students must be in school for 8.30am. If students arrive after this time they should proceed to the main reception where they will be marked as late. If a student is late after 8:30am they will receive a C2 15 minute detention at breaktime. If a student is late three times in a week, in addition to the three after school detentions, they will also serve an SLT detention on Friday after school for 45 minutes. We also use late reports to monitor student punctuality.

Time lost through poor punctuality…

Minutes Late (a day)

A week

A year

Across five years at LHS

5

25 minutes

3 school days

15 school days

10

50 minutes

6 school days

30 school days

15

1 hour and 15 minutes

9 school days

45 school days

Although you may not realise it, repeated lateness results in your child missing a lot of school and has an adverse effect on their achievement. For example, a child who is repeatedly 10 minutes late to school every day will miss 6 days of school every year.

For further information about how we manage Attendance and Punctuality at Longdendale you can find the school’s attendance policy on our website, or alternatively please contact your child’s Form Tutor.

Attendance Officer

Our Attendance Officer may contact families and students having issues with their attendance. Their role is to assist students and families in overcoming any barriers that may exist that are stopping your child from attending school regularly. If a student’s attendance does not improve to the required level after support has been put in place you risk prosecution for persistent absence.

Stamford Park Trust