Attendance
At Cardinal Newman, we aim to maximise attendance rates as we know that Attendance Matters – There is a significant link between a child’s attendance record and their success in the future. We work very hard with our students and families to ensure that we maintain our high standards for attendance and punctuality, because we understand the valuable role good attendance plays in supporting students learning and progress. The expectation is that every student strives to obtain above 97% attendance (which equates to 5 days absence across the school year).
All children will have days when they’re not able to go to school, whether that’s due to illness or a family emergency, and the occasional day off is unlikely to affect their education. However, missing too much school can be seriously detrimental. Missing a few days of school here and there may not seem a big deal, but research shows that it can have a significant impact on children’s learning.
- Children who miss a substantial amount of school fall behind their peers, and struggle to catch up. Most of the work they miss is never made up, which can lead to big gaps in their learning.
- Pupils who miss between 10 and 20% of school (19 to 38 days per year) stand only a 35% chance of achieving five or more good GCSEs, compared to 72% of those who miss fewer than 5% of school.
- A 1% fall in attendance correlates to a 5% fall in attainment. On average, children who miss 17 or more days in a school year lose one full grade in their GCSEs.
- Friendships can be affected by persistent absence, too: it can be hard for a child who misses lots of school to form relationships with their classmates.
What does that look like?
Whilst you may consider the figure of 90% to be high, students with attendance below 90% have missed over 20 days of school and 100 hours of learning.
Week: 90% is equivalent of being absent for half a day every week throughout the school year.
Year: 90% is equivalent of being absent for 4 whole weeks in one school year.
Year 7 to 11: 90% is equivalent to being absent for approximately half a school year during your time at school. That’s the same as missing 6 months of school over the course of your time at school.
Understanding Types of Absence
Every half day absence must be classified by the school (not by parents/guardians) as either authorised or unauthorised. Information about the cause of any absence is always required from parents/guardians, preferably in writing.
Authorised
Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from school for a good reason such as illness, medical/ dental appointments which unavoidably fall in school time, or emergencies.
Unauthorised
Unauthorised absences are those which the school does not consider reasonable. This type of absence can lead to the Local Authority using sanctions and/or legal proceedings. This includes:
- Parents/guardians keeping pupils off unnecessarily.
- Truancy before or during the school day.
- Absences which have never been properly explained.
- Shopping, looking after other children or birthdays.
- Day trips and all holidays in term time.
- Oversleeping.
- Absence to look after a sibling who is unwell.
- Confusion over term dates.
Any problems with regular attendance are best sorted out between school, and parents/guardians and the student. If your child is reluctant to attend parents/guardians should not condone the absence or give in to pressure to excuse them from attending school, they must contact school immediately to discuss.
Illness
Firstly, decide if you child is too ill to attend school. Each day the school is attended by several pupils who feel under the weather or ‘a bit sick’. Most of these pupils improve during the day and have no problems as a result of their attending.
If your child is too ill to attend, please ring the school on the first day (and on each subsequent day before 8.45am) your child is unwell. You can leave a message on the school answer phone 01925 635556 or email the office at enquiries@cardinal-newman.co.uk or report the absence on School Gateway stating your child’s name, class and full reason for the absence
An NHS guide to mild childhood illnessShould my child go to school today leaflet
Mental Health and Wellbeing
School recognises that mental health can impact attendance, and we are committed to supporting students who may be struggling. However, not all mental health-related absences can be authorised.
If a student is experiencing mental health difficulties, we encourage them to attend school, where support is available through our pastoral and SEND teams.
If a student is too unwell to attend school due to mental health concerns, medical evidence may be required to authorise the absence. Without this, the absence may be recorded as unauthorised.
Appointments
If for any reason your child needs to leave school during the day, they must sign out at the school office. Please provide some evidence of the appointment, this could be in the form of a letter or screenshot of the appointment confirmation explaining why they need to leave. Please try to make all dentist, doctor, hospital, optician and orthodontist appointments, outside school hours where possible.
Leave of Absence in Term Time
Parents/carers do not have a legal right to take children out of school during term time. Each application is considered individually by the Headteacher.
Requests must be sent to the school office marked for the attention of the headteacher.
Permission for a leave of absence during term time must be requested 2 weeks in advance of the required date.
Holidays are not permitted during term time, if you choose to take a holiday in term time, school need to be informed prior to the holiday taking place. Any holiday in term time will be recorded as an unauthorised absence.
Absence for religious observance will only be authorised if a specific day is exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the parent/guardian/child belongs. E.g. Eid.
What is a’ Persistent Absent Pupil’?
School will continue to closely monitor attendance in school and, where we see attendance falling below 90% (which is classed by the DfE as being persistently absent (PA)) you will be contacted to discuss if we can provide any support. If you are having difficulties getting your child to school, please contact us so we can work together to improve.
Missing school will make your child fall behind in lessons and will impact on their academic progress and achievement.
The information below shows how many days missed each half–term will make your child a PA pupil How many days off will make your child a persistent absence student?
- Half-term 1 - 3 ½ days off school from September until October half-term holiday will make your child a PA pupil
- Half-term 1-2- 7 days off school from September until the Christmas holiday will make your child a PA student.
- Half term 1-3 - 10 days of absence from September until February half-term will make your child a PA student.
- Half term 1-4- Half-term 1-3 12 ½ days of absence from September until the Easter holidays will make your child a PA student.
- Half-term 1-5- 15 ½ days of absence from September until May half-term will make your child a PA student.
- Half-term 1-6 - 19 days of absence for the full academic year (September to end of summer term in July) will make your child a PA student.
What is a’ Persistent Absent Pupil’?
Being 15 minutes late each day is the same as missing two weeks of school over the year. The start of the school day is an important time for pupils to develop their social skills with their peers, as well as preparing them for their learning.
We expect our pupils to be on site at 8.35am every day, and at their form room by 8.40am for the start of registration. Pupils who arrive after 8.50am will be marked late and receive a lunchtime detention. Students arriving after registration closes at 9.20am will be marked with a U code and will be expected to attend a 30 minute after school detention on the same day.
U code is an unauthorised absence unless an explanation given is accepted as grounds for authorising the late arrival. U codes may lead penalty notices.
General Information
If your child becomes ill whilst in school, they must tell a teacher straight away. If your child is too ill to remain in school or need further treatment, we will contact you to collect your child. Your child is not allowed to leave school or go home without permission.
If your child requires any form of medication, please bring it to the main school office before the start of the school day. Should you have any questions regarding your child's attendance please contact your child's form tutor in the first instance or pastoral manager.
