Atherton High School is committed to a positive policy of encouraging pupils to attend school regularly. The school works in partnership with parents/carers, the Local Authority Education Welfare Officers and other relevant services to secure this aim.
The happiness and educational progress of all our students is a main priority and we believe that good attendance is a significant contributing factor in which these priorities can be achieved. When your child is absent from school, they miss important curriculum content which underpins the breadth of study, resulting in attainment and knowledge gaps affecting future learning and progress. It is for this reason that we ask for your support in this matter.
Our Attendance Ambition
Our School expects all pupils to aim for 100% attendance.
98% attendance is regarded as good and should be achieved with an average amount of illness.
Any attendance level that creates a cause for concern would initiate intervention by the school. This could be a phone call with the form teacher or may, in more severe circumstances, lead to the involvement of agencies outside of the school.
We will closely monitor attendance and we will inform you if your child’s attendance falls below 95%.
Attendance that falls below 90% is classed as persistent absence (PA) and if this occurs we will request a meeting to discuss the reasons why your child’s attendance continues to be below the expected minimum.
A school based Local Authority Attendance Officer works alongside our school staff to support and promote excellent school attendance.
Punctuality
- Each day we have a choice to be late or on time.
- Lateness means we lose valuable learning time and the sanction is a school detention.
- Good time-keeping means we can use every opportunity to succeed.
- Law of EVE 2 is to always be punctual.
Lateness to School
- Each day children who arrive late to school will need to sign in electronically in the reception area.
- Repeated lateness to school will result in a parent/staff panel meeting.
- Student late detentions will be held daily.
- Late to school = same day social time detention (10 mins).
- 2 or more late marks in the same week = 30 mins after school detention on the Friday of that week.
Illness and Accidents Procedures
- If a student feels ill or has an accident, they should tell your teacher, form tutor or any other staff member if they are not in a lesson.
- If a student has an accident they will be looked after by a qualified First Aider.
- If a student feels unwell a qualified First Aider will come to the classroom to assess the situation.
- If a student is unable to continue lessons, a family member will be contacted by the school, before they are allowed to go home.
- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should a student leave the school site without prior permission.
- If a student has been given permission to leave, they must REMEMBER to sign out using inventory system in reception.
Health and Safety
All students will be responsible for
- Complying with school rules and procedures.
- Taking reasonable care of themselves and others.
- Co-operating with their teachers and other school staff.
- Using equipment and substances in the manner in which they are instructed.
- Not misusing anything they believe to be hazardous or dangerous.
Leaving Site
Students should be on the school site at all times during the school day unless there is a specific reason for leaving. You then would need written permission from your parent/carer and to have completed the signing out process in Reception.
Procedures
- If a student has an appointment with the doctor or dentist, they must bring a letter from their parent/carer. Ideally these appointments should try to be arranged outside of school hours.
- To get permission to leave site, students should see the Attendance Lead Mr Littler. If he is not available then they should speak to their Form Tutor.
- If a student is leaving school during a lesson, please let the specific class teacher know at the start of the lesson.
- As students leave the premises they must sign out electronically in the Reception area.
- If a student returns, report to Reception and sign in before going to lessons.
Attendance Example
Joe is in Year 8. His attendance rate is always around 90%. He thinks this is pretty good. So, what does an attendance rate of 90% look like?
90% attendance means that he is absent from lessons for the equivalent of one half day every week.
In Year 7, Joe’s 90% attendance rate means that he has missed the equivalent of four whole weeks of lessons in the school year.
If Joe continues to attend for only 90% of the time, then over five years he will miss the equivalent of about one half of a school year.
How do you think 90% attendance rate will affect Joe’s chances of doing well in school?
Research suggests that 17 days missed from school equates to a GCSE grade.