Attendance
Attendance Booklet
Legal Requirements
Parents whose children are registered at a school or other educational establishment are then responsible for ensuring that they attend punctually, regularly, stay there as required and follow the school’s rules with regard to behaviour. If parent/ carer(s) fail to ensure this, there are a number of options open to the Local Authority and schools to secure an improvement in the child’s behaviour and attendance and support parents to achieve this.
For further information please see the Local Authority Guidance from North Yorkshire Council.
Attend to Achieve Presentation
As a school, we continue to use a number of strategies to raise awareness & provide support so we can maintain our excellent school attendance and let our students flourish. This presentation aims to raise student awareness of their current attendance, the impact good attendance can have and support they can access if they are struggling to attend school.
Reporting a student absence (Illness/Appointments)
What happens if my child tests positive for COVID-19?
For children and young people aged 18 and under who test positive for COVID-19, the government advice is to try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for three days. This is because children and young people tend to be infectious to other people for less time than adults.
The UKHSA has also published public health guidance on living safely with respiratory infections, including COVID-19.
What happens if my child is unwell, but has not tested for COVID-19?
If students are unwell, and do not feel well enough to attend school, parents are asked to complete the Absence Reporting Form. This can be accessed via the home page, or through the link below.
If students are unwell, but feel capable of attending school, then please do try to come in.
Students should copy up work they have missed when they return to school after illness.
Wherever possible, medical appointments (doctor, dentist) should be made before or after school, or during school holidays. If this is not possible please complete the online Absence Reporting Form. You can fill this in as soon as you know the date and time of the appointment.
Your child will need to sign out at Reception at the agreed time.
Good attendance is linked to both students’ happiness and their academic achievements in school. At King James’s School, we want all our students to attend school every day so that they give themselves the best chance whatever path they take in the future.
Research has shown that those students with 100% attendance are more likely to secure the best grades at GCSE. In fact, students with no absence are 1.5 times more likely to achieve 5 or more GCSEs at the top grades and are almost three times more likely to achieve 5 or more GCSEs including English and Mathematics than students who have missed 15-20% of lessons. Similarly, students who progress to further study beyond Year 11 will also find that good attendance is crucial in order to secure the best outcomes.
Our ultimate objective is to ensure that students are ‘work-ready’ by the time they leave school at the end of Year 11. Any employer will tell you that good attendance is at the core of being a reliable employee. So we want all of our students to aim for 100% attendance and to take every opportunity to be successful and prepare for the road ahead.
Persistent Absentee
A persistent absentee is defined as missing 46 or more sessions across the school year (typically more than 12% of the available sessions)making their attendance less than 90%.
If a student becomes a persistent absentee, the school will discuss this case with the Attendance Officer and Pastoral Team, and a referral will be made. There is a statutory duty to follow up and act where a student’s attendance figures are less than 90% in any one academic year.
Term Time Absence
We aim for all our students to have 100% attendance and punctuality and our minimum expectation is 96%. Parents/Carers are legally responsible for ensuring their child attends school on time everyday.
If your child is to be absent, parents/carers are asked to fill in the online absence form. Daily contact is required to keep the school informed of progress.
Any student who is absent without us being notified will be followed up on a daily basis as a Safeguarding precaution. An email/text will be sent to parents/carers to inform them if a student has not registered at school.
The Government changed the Education (Pupil Registration) Regulations in relation to term time holidays on 1st September 2013.
As a result, Head Teachers can no longer allow any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.
This means that holidays in term time will not be authorised and will be marked as an unauthorised absence in the school register.
Unauthorised absences may result in a Penalty Notice being issued under the provisions of the Education Act 1996 (as amended) which means that you could be fined for your child’s absence.
The issuing of Penalty Notices relates to any unauthorised absence. Authorisation of absence is at the Head Teacher’s discretion and if your child is absent for any reason such as illness, you may be required to provide the school with evidence of the absence such as a medical appointment card or prescription.
Information on penalty notices is also available on the NYCC and DFE websites.
Improving Attendance
