Attendance at SRPA

Why full attendance is important

We want all pupils to take advantage of the opportunities provided by Sir Robert Pattinson Academy. Pupils not in school are more at risk of failing to achieve, they run greater risk of getting involved in crime or becoming victims of crime. We want all pupils to fulfil their individual potential and in order for this to happen, we need your co-operation and support in ensuring that we have full attendance and excellent levels of punctuality.

School Attendance – boundaries and descriptions

We will write to you each half term to update you on your child’s attendance

Authorised Absences

We expect your child to attend Sir Robert Pattinson Academy every day unless they have the following authorised absences:

• He/she is too ill to attend. If you are unsure whether your child should attend school due to an illness, we would encourage you to speak to a member of staff. We are committed to the well-being of our pupils and will send home those we believe to be too unwell. For further advice, see “is my child too ill for school” (link is at the top of the page)
• He/she has a medical appointment. We fully support pupils needing medical appointments. To minimise lost learning, we ask that medical appointments are made outside of school hours where possible. If this is not possible, we ask they are only out of school for the duration of the appointment.
• Other circumstances authorised by Sir Robert Pattinson Academy

We also expect your child to be punctual to every lesson and would ask that you reinforce this with your child. Late entry to lessons disrupts the learning of other pupils and a sanction will follow if this occurs to discourage a negative impact on learning.

Unauthorised Absence

This occurs when your child has been absent, and the absence has not been explained or we do not consider the reason for the absence to be acceptable. Some reasons we consider unacceptable are:

• Parents/carers keeping children off school unnecessarily
• Parents/carers fetching children from school unnecessarily
• Truancy from the Academy or lessons
• Holidays and day trips during term time
• Taking the last day of term off
• Lack of uniform
• Looking after younger children
• Birthdays
• Shopping
• Staying in for deliveries

Holidays in Term Time

Holidays in term time will not be approved unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as military deployment. In order to have a holiday approved, parents/carers must apply in writing on a Leave of Absence form. Applications MUST be made in writing at least 4 weeks in advance of the intended date of absence. Please check term dates carefully as these differ between schools. It is parents/carers’ responsibility to check term dates. Holiday requests during or leading up to examinations will always be refused.

Truancy

This occurs when your child misses’ school without authorisation or registers for school but does not then attend lessons or arrive on time. You will be notified if this occurs.

Moving schools

If your child is going to be changing school’s midyear, please call an Attendance Officer to ensure the correct information is obtained and or processes followed to allow a smooth process.

What will we do to monitor attendance and punctuality?

We will contact you on the first day of absence, if you have not informed us why your child is absent.
Send you an absence letter if we have not been able to contact you.
Send you attendance and punctuality statistics as part of our progress reports.
Our registration is in the morning at 08.45 and we expect pupils to be on the school site for 08.30 ready to make their way to registration at 08.40

Warning Letters/Fixed Penalty Notices/ Parental Prosecution

Parents/carers have a legal duty to ensure that their child receives an education suitable to his/her age, ability, aptitude and any special needs.

Should the attendance team consider that a parent/carer is unwilling or unable to ensure their child attends school regularly without good reason then a Fixed Penalty Notice may be issued (£160 reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days). If the issues continue, prosecution through the Magistrates Court and fines of up to £2500 and/or imprisonment for 3 months may be considered. In some very rare cases, the Academy may have to consider parental prosecution under Section 444 of the 1996 Education Act.