Attendance is crucial to keeping students safe and helping them to make good progress. As a school we aim to:

• Maintain an attendance rate of a minimum of 95%
• Maintain parents’ and students’ awareness of the importance of regular attendance.

Research has shown that there is a very clear relationship between the regularity with which students attend school and their academic achievement.

Students with good attendance records benefit from:

• The continuity of learning in lessons.
• Improved performance in examinations.
• Support and guidance with coursework.
• Maintaining friendships.
• Developing good habits for adult life.
• References for further education or employment highlighting their reliability.

We therefore ask for your support to keep absenteeism to a minimum, so that we can prepare students effectively for their future.

Parents can help us by:

• ringing on the first morning of all absences with the reason and saying when the child will return.
• arranging dental and doctor’s appointments out of school hours or during school breaks.
• sending a note explaining the reason for absence on your child’s return to school after an illness.
• keeping us updated by telephone or letter if your child has an extended period of absence due to illness.
• letting us know if there are issues arising in school that you think are affecting your child’s attendance.