Reporting Absence and Attendance Information

Parent/Carers have a legal responsibility to communicate with the school if their child is going to be absent. If your child is unwell the absence must be reported to the Attendance Officer on the first day of absence before 8:30am by telephone or email. all further absences must be reported on a daily basis. Please be aware that if contact has not been made, the Attendance Officer, Home liaison or Student Manager will contact you to find out the reason for any absence. 

Absence line to speak to The Attendance Officer is 020 7275 1546 

Email to report absence is absent@petcheyacademy.org.uk

When contacting the school about an absence, please ensure that you include the following information:

  • Child's name, year group and class

  • Reason for absence

  • When you expect them to return to school

Medical appointments:

Any requests for leave for medical appointments must be accompanied by an appointment card or letter otherwise the absence will be recorded as unauthorised. Students will not be allowed off-site without this evidence.  

All non-urgent medical or dental appointments must be arranged for outside of academy hours.

All students must be accounted for every day. Registers are taken in each lesson and failure to report your child absent will result in an unauthorised absence being recorded. 

Special Leave

Please note that there is NO automatic entitlement to take holidays/special leave during term time. Special leave will only be granted in exceptional circumstances for a maximum of 10 days and on an individual basis.  

Special leave will not be agreed:

  • When a student first joins the academy or in Year 11
  • Immediately before and during assessment periods or examinations
  • When a student’s attendance record has any unauthorised absences
  • When a student has an attendance record of 90% or below

Special leave requests must be requested in writing to the Headteacher at least two weeks in advance, outlining the reason with any supporting evidence.

Any special leave taken without the agreement of the academy, or in excess of that agreed will be classed as unauthorised. For any period of an unauthorised holiday, you will be fined £60 by the academy and if you take your child out for more than one week you may also incur sanctions such as a Penalty Notice from Hackney Learning Trust or even risk the student’s place on roll.

Students are permitted one day per year (not per festival) for religious observance and must inform the Attendance Officer one week in advance. 

Promoting Excellent Attendance

Promoting excellent attendance to ensure that your child makes every minute of every lesson of every day count.

Attendance at school has a huge impact on your child's academic success starting from reception all the way through to Y11 and into sixth form. Data proves that there is a direct correlation between attendance and attainment. Families play a vital role in making sure that their children get to school safely, regularly and on time.

Here are some useful tips to help you in achieving this:

1. Always make school a priority

  • Avoid making a doctor, dentist or optician appointment during academy hours unless it is absolutely imperative. If you do need to make an appointment during school time, try to ensure that your child misses as little of school as possible.
  • We understand that travel companies do not make it easy for families but refrain from booking a holiday during term time as it will most likely be unauthorised. As a result of this, your child will fall behind and you may be fined.
  • Do not allow your child to stay off school
  • Do not allow your child to miss school on Mondays and Fridays if you are going away for the weekend. Make suitable arrangements to avoid this.
  • Do not allow your child to stay off school due to poor weather conditions.
  • Do not allow your child to take a day off school for their birthday.

2. Engage with your child's education

  • Find out if your child is coping with their school work and if they are up to date. Missing school will make them fall behind.
  • Check your child's attendance with school, you might not realise how much school they have missed.
  • Encourage your child to stay after school to attend learning clubs, interventions and extra lessons whenever they are offered.
  • If your child forgets their homework, PE Kit, stationery etc or is not in the correct uniform it will cause problems for them in school so help and encourage your child to become organised at home.

Understanding Your Child's Attendance

Parent/Carers receive termly updates on attendance.

We categorise attendance according to the following colour coded levels:

Attendance-Monitoring.pdfYour child will be encouraged to review their attendance every half term during tutor time and to set themselves targets to improve their attendance throughout the year.

As a school, we aim to celebrate good/excellent attendance throughout the year. Students are recognised in assemblies and are awarded gift cards, certificates and rewards breakfasts etc on a termly basis.

You can help by talking to them about their attendance and encouraging them to value every day in school.

Be aware of how much learning time is lost with increasing numbers of days' absent.

Attendance-and-Punctuality.pdf

Headline Facts and Figures from the Department of Education (2019):

  • Students who did not achieve grade 9 to 4 in English and maths GCSEs in 2019 had an overall absence rate of 8.8% over the key stage, compared with 5.2% amongst students who received a grade 4 and 3.7% amongst students who achieved grade 9 to 5 in both English and maths. 
  • Amongst students with no missed sessions over KS4, 83.7% achieved grades 9 to 4 in English and maths compared with 35.6% of students who were persistently absent.

Research has shown:

  • Students leaving with five grade 7s or above at GCSE, over a lifetime, will earn £350,000 more than those leaving with grade 4.
  • 17 missed school days a year (92% attendance) = 1 GCSE grade dropped
  • If your child has 19 days of more off school in a year their attendance is below 90% (persistent absence).
  • If your child has nine days of more off school in a year their attendance is below 95%.

 

Who is a Persistent Absence Student?

If your child has too much time off school they will be categorised as a persistent absentee, also known as PA. (Attendance below 90% = persistent absence).

Do not allow your child to become a PA student.

This table shows how may days missed each half term will make your child a PA student.

 

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 student.

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.