Attendance and Punctuality

Is Your Child Missing Out?

Focus on Attendance and Punctuality

Research has shown that regular attendance and good punctuality are crucial factors in students achieving their full potential in education. At St Ignatius College we wish to work in partnership with parents and carers and so are seeking your full support in ensuring that your child attends school every day and on time. We are always pleased to work together with parents/carers in resolving any difficulties, but we are also committed to improving attendance levels at the College.

The target attendance figure for all pupils is a minimum of 97% attendance. Based on current attendance figures your child will be placed in one of the following groups below.

 

Your child will be informed of their Attendance Group by their form tutor. St Ignatius College are monitoring students closely whose attendance is falling and will contact you if your child’s attendance does not improve. As a parent/carer you are committing an offence if you fail to ensure that your child attends College regularly and punctually, even if they are missing School without your knowledge. It is important that parents/carers monitor single day’s absence, as these days soon add up to weeks.

At St Ignatius College we reward pupils who attend College each day and whose attendance is improving. Students are also rewarded for good punctuality. 

If you are concerned about this new ‘Focus on Attendance’, there are important steps that you can take:

• Ensure your child attends every day, on time, equipped and ready to learn. Lesson time begins at 8.35am and all pupils need to be onsite before 8.30am. Students arriving after 8.30am may be marked absent and will require an explanatory note or the absence will remain unauthorised. 
• Ensure the College has up-to-date addresses and telephone numbers. We will contact you if your child is absent and you have not contacted the College. This ensures that the absence is quickly identified.
• If your child is ill, contact the College on the first day of absence and provide an explanatory note on their return to the College. 
• If you wish to check that your child has arrived at the College contact the College’s Attendance Officer will inform you if your child has been registered.
• If no contact is received regarding the absence, it is recorded as un-authorised. Ultimately the College is responsible for deciding if the absence is acceptable or not. Only genuine absence will be authorised. You will be asked to provide medical certificates if your child has a poor attendance record.
• Ensure that medical appointments are made outside of College time.
• Avoid trivial absences such as, ‘buying new shoes’. This would not be accepted as a reasonable absence.
• Holidays should not be taken in School time. Any Leave of Absence can only be agreed by the Headteacher and only agreed where there are exceptional circumstances.
• Respond to letters or telephone calls regarding attendance and punctuality.
• Contact your child’s form tutor if you are experiencing difficulty in getting your child into the College.

Thank you for working in partnership with us to achieve the highest possible levels of attendance and punctuality at St Ignatius College.