The Independent Grammar School: Durham
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Introduction
The Independent Grammar School: Durham is committed to ensuring progress and positive outcomes for all pupils. Regular attendance at school is important in achieving this.
This policy sets out:
• The procedures in place to monitor attendance
• The procedures for following up absence
• How parents should request leave of absence for their child.
It should be read in conjunction with:
• Child Protection (Safeguarding) Policy
• The DfE publication, “Keeping Children Safe in Education” (September 2016)
• Parental Commitment
Registration
All children at IGS: Durham have their attendance registered twice daily (morning and afternoon). Morning registration is at 8.45am and afternoon registration immediately follows the lunch break. The register is taken manually and kept in a locked cabinet. All children must be accounted for either as present, absent or attending an approved educational activity. If a child is absent, parents should notify the school either before or on the morning of the first day of absence. When a student is absent and there has been no notification from home regarding the absence, the school will contact a parent by 9.30 a.m. to confirm the reason for the absence, the whereabouts of the child, and who is caring for him/her. This procedure will be repeated for every subsequent day of absence.
We have a legal safeguarding duty to report students to their local authority if they fail to attend school regularly or are absent without the school’s permission for a continuous period of ten school days or more. If the school has reason to believe a child may be at risk, we may report that to the local authority before the ten-day threshold is reached. With this in mind (i.e. the school’s judgment of risk) the level and pattern of absence of children is also monitored closely.
Punctuality
Children who are late to registration are still required to be registered and arrangements are in place for late registration to take place. We will keep a record of late registration, including the reason for the lateness. Persistent or regular lateness is discussed with parents in an attempt to ensure that children arrive at school in good time to get themselves ready for lessons.
Requesting leave of absence
We recognise that there will be times when a student will be absent on grounds of religious observance, bereavement, one-off special family occasions or when visiting another school. We do not encourage parents to take children out of school for family holidays, but recognise that occasionally this may be necessary. Such occasions will be deemed to be “exceptional” by the Principal (see Parental Commitment).
If such absence is required during term time:
• Parents wishing to take their children out of school for one day or part of a day should write a note to their child’s class teacher to give the date and reason for the absence not later than two school days before the requested absence
• Parents wishing to take their child out of school for more than one day (including family holidays) must request leave of absence in advance, in writing or by email from the Principal, setting out the dates and reason for the absence#
• Consent for absence of longer than one day cannot be deemed to have been granted unless the Principal or the Head of School has given it to the parents in writing or by email.
All students who miss school for whatever reason are expected to catch up with work missed. Where a student is absent for a prolonged period due to ill health, the school will work with parents to ensure that suitable work is made available for the student during their absence and effective support to catch-up is in place upon their return.
The Independent Grammar School: Durham
February 2017
Last reviewed: October 2022, March 2023
Next Review due: October 2024