Attendance

At St. Aidan's we believe it is important to encourage good habits of attendance and punctuality to ensure that all students achieve their full potential. It is well known that ‘persistently absent’ students (those who are off school for 18 days or more in a school year), perform significantly less well than students with lower absence rates.

The following procedures are in place:

Arrival at the beginning of the day

• All students are expected to be in school by 8.40am each morning.
• Late students are likely to receive school based sanctions to encourage improvement.

Morning and Afternoon registration

All students will register their morning attendance mark between 8.40am - 9:00am daily with their assigned tutor. Attendance registers will also be taken in every lesson including the afternoon registration session. The normal school day ends at 14:50pm.

Absence from School due to Illness

• Students should only be absent from school if they are suffering from a genuine illness.
• Contact School about absences on (01325) 373770 before 9.00am, or using our Classcharts app.
• In the case of prolonged absence on medical grounds, we may ask for a letter or other form of confirmation from the GP or other Health Professional confirming the medical issue and likely length of absence from school.

Absence from School for Other Reasons

We realise that there may be other reasons why a student has to be absent from school. On such occasions the school should be informed as soon as possible. Should a student have an unavoidable appointment and need to leave school during the school day, please inform reception via the number above. Students should report to the Main Reception when leaving and again on their return.

Should a student need to take a longer period of time off school, and this is known in advance, there is a leave of absence request form. The form can be collected from Main Reception and should only be used in exceptional circumstances. Further details regarding what are regarded as appropriate reasons for such absences can be found in the Attendance Policy.

Authorised and Unauthorised Absences

Since August 1991 schools need to distinguish between two types of absence when informing parents/carers. The school decides whether an absence is authorised or not.

Attendance and Our Expectations of Parents/Carers

St. Aidan's Academy appreciates the support of parents/carers regarding their children’s attendance at school and all lessons. Parents/carers do, of course, have a legal duty to ensure that children attend school regularly until they reach school leaving age.

Attendance and punctuality are carefully monitored. Students who truant or arrive late can expect further sanctions from the school. Parental support is vital at this stage to prevent further problems arising. Therefore, we routinely contact parents/carers on the first day of any absence which has not been notified. In exceptional cases school may send an Attendance Officer to the family home to investigate unexplained and/or prolonged absences that we have not been adequately notified about.

Good attendance records are invariably acknowledged, on the school reports and references.

Holidays during term time

Should you wish to remove your child from school during term-time you must get permission from the Headteacher. This requires:

1: Completing an application form, available from reception, once completed this application will be reviewed by the Headteacher.

2: Demonstration that there are exceptional circumstances.

Any holidays taken during term-time without approval from school will be recorded as unauthorised absence and may trigger other actions should the child’s overall absence from school reach a trigger threshold at some point during the school year. The Local Authority reserve the right to fine the parents and carers who remove their child from school during term time for a holiday without the school’s permission.

Darlington Borough Council Attendance Policy

Parents are legally responsible for making sure that their child attends school. If a child fails to attend school without acceptable reason parents risk getting a penalty notice or being prosecuted.

Arranging appointments and outings after school hours, at weekends or during school holidays will help to prevent disruption to a pupil’s education and to the school.  Parents should not expect their child’s school to agree to their child going on holiday during term time and if parents do take them out of school this too may result in a penalty notice.

Amendments have been made to the 2006 regulations in the Education (Pupil Registration)(England)(Amendment) Regulations 2013 [external link] with effect from 1 September 2013.

The amendments make clear that headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Headteachers should determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if the leave is granted, in these exceptional circumstances.

Further information can be found by following the link: https://www.darlington.gov.uk/education-and-learning/school-years/support-for-parents-and-pupils/attendance/