School Absence Line: 01789 209296

Absence Email: attendance@stratfordschool.co.uk
 

Sickness Absence Procedure A single case of sickness may be due to over exertion, dehydration, over indulgence of food, food intolerance, anxiety etc and in such case your child is fine to be in school as soon as their symptoms ease.   In line with NHS guidance, if your child has been repeatedly vomiting or has repeated bouts of diarrhoea, please keep them off school for a 48-hour period after their last episode of ill health, to reduce the risk of spreading illness and to allow recovery.

Parents are requested to report any absence from school by 9am on each day of absence, to support school safeguarding routines, including ill health or medical appointments requiring absence to the student absence line 01789 209296, or via email to attendance@stratfordschool.co.uk

Under section 7 of the Education Act 1996 parents are responsible for making sure that their child(ren) receives an efficient full-time education suitable to their needs.

For longer term absence please discuss with the Attendance Improvement Officer direct on 01789 416621 

MCAS – My Child At School 

Please ensure the details we hold on file are up-to-date and accurate in respect of parent/carer address, emergency contacts, email address and all contact phone numbers. This is very important and will ensure first aid staff are able to contact you should the need arise and for teaching/pastoral staff to contact home with praise or to raise a concern. Amendments can easily be made by accessing the MCAS portal or alternatively by sending an email to admin@stratfordschool.co.uk.

Attendance Matters

Regular attendance at school is extremely important and a vital part of a student's social and emotional development, fulfilment, educational outcomes and academic success. Attending daily lessons in class allows every opportunity to learn well, enabling young people in our care to be successful, to reach their own individual potential, and to feel proud of their achievements. 

Our aim is to protect learning, and challenge absence, where appropriate, to ensure future aspirations can be secured. We expect all students to attend school every day possible, to support the whole school attendance target of 96%. We work closely with students and their families to identify barriers to learning, support concerns, to develop action plans, to ensure consistently high levels of attendance can be maintained year-on-year. 

Persistent Absence Definition

An individual student is deemed as being persistently absent from school by the DfE if their attendance drops below 90%, a level which invariably may/will have a detrimental impact on their social and emotional development and academic outcomes. This is another area where the school has worked hard to improve and we now have a new target for whole school Persistent Absence which is 5% for this year. We are working closely with W.C.C – Warwickshire Attendance Service (W.A.S) to resolve issues leading to repeated absence.

We ask parents to take a proactive approach to school attendance. If students are struggling and feeling under the weather, please give them some appropriate medication and send them into school, rather than allowing them to stay at home. Missing lessons creates gaps in knowledge that are often difficult to close. For pastoral concerns please contact the form tutor in the first instance, or for academic concerns please email teaching staff direct. 

Important Information - Leave of Absence during term time

• Headteachers are no longer able to grant any leave of absence during term time unless they consider there are exceptional circumstances attached to the application.
• If the Headteacher does consider the circumstances to be exceptional they will determine how many days absence is appropriate.
• Leave of absence must be applied for in advance, by completing a WCC Leave of Absence Application Form to be returned to the Attendance Improvement Officer. Leave of absence cannot be granted retrospectively.

If a leave of absence is refused/not applied for in advance, and the student is taken out of school anyway, the absence will be considered an unauthorised leave of absence and may result in legal action being taken.

Fixed Penalty Notice

In line with Government guidelines and Warwickshire County Council Schools Attendance Policy, a student absent from school due to taking an unauthorised Leave of Absence during term time, will be referred to WCC Warwickshire Attendance Service (W.A.S), for the consideration of a £60 fixed penalty notice per parent/carer, per student, if paid within 21 days of issue (£120 thereafter).

Other Concerns; globally most Muslims do not practise FGM , it is neither a requirement or a "Sunna" in Islam. We are aware that some UK communities are more at risk than others. FGM is illegal in the UK and considered to be child abuse. As such we will follow appropriate safeguarding procedure whenever FGM is a possible reason for absence from school or removal from school roll. 

When is 90% not good enough? When it is your Attendance score!

Stratford upon Avon School is committed to the education of its students. In order to achieve this, we need to have them in school and in lessons. Though in many situations 90% sounds like a good score - in attendance terms it isn’t! This is because this drop of 10% means a student misses 1 whole day of education per fortnight!

1 day lost per fortnight = 5 lessons = 4 weeks of school

4 lost weeks of school = 120 lessons

Over 5 years of schooling 90% attendance = ½ a YEAR of education lost

½ a Year of Education = 600 lessons missed

Why is it important to be on time in the morning?

Students are expected to arrive in school promptly at 8.45a.m for Period 1 lesson to start promptly at 8.50a.m. If a student is 15 mins late for lessons each day for a year they will miss the equivalent of 2 weeks lessons.

15 mins late per day = 2 weeks lessons lost!

15 mins late per day over 5 years = 285 lessons lost!

5 mins late per day over 5 year = 1 month of education lost!

Why does this make a difference?

There is a proven link to attendance and exam success. If a student misses 17 days per year they are likely to drop one grade on every GCSE subject that they take.

Attendance of 95% or more = 74% of students are likely to get 5 or more level 4 to 9 GCSEs.

Attendance of 92.5 to 93.5% = 60% of students are likely to get 5 or more level 4 to 9 GCSEs.

Attendance of 88% or lower = only 27% of students are likely to get 5 or more level 4 to 9 GCSEs.

If you have any questions please call the school and ask to speak to our Attendance Improvement Officer on: 01789 416621.