Attendance

Attendance at Over Hall is very important - If you are not here, you can’t learn!

Our aim at Over Hall Community School is for every child to 'be supported, feel supported'. For our students to gain the greatest benefit from their education, it is vital that they attend school regularly and arrive on time every day the school is open, unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable.

The school has a legal duty to publish its absence figures to parents and to promote attendance. Equally, parents have a duty to make sure that their children attend.

All school staff are committed to working with families as the best way to ensure as high a level of attendance as possible and that every child’s welfare and life opportunities are promoted.

Parents and carers should make sure that their child attends regularly and this policy sets out how families and school work together to achieve this.

Why Regular Attendance is so important:

Learning            

Any absence affects the pattern of a child’s schooling and regular absence will seriously affect their learning. Any student’s absence disrupts teaching routines so may affect the learning of others in the same class.

Ensuring a child’s regular attendance at school is parents’ or carers’ legal responsibility. Permitting absence from school without a good reason creates an offence in law and may result in prosecution.

100% Attendance        Excellent!       0 days missed                   

95% Attendance          Satisfactory    Approximately 9 days missed - nearly two weeks of learning missed             

90% Attendance           Poor               Approximately 19 days of absence - nearly four weeks of learning missed     

85% Attendance           Very poor       Approximately 28 days of absence - over five weeks of learning missed.        

80% Attendance          Detrimental    Approximately 38 days of absence - over seven weeks of learning missed.                                                                                                          Equivalent to an entire half term!                                                  

  Safeguarding

A child may be at risk of harm if he or she does not attend school regularly. Safeguarding the interests of each child is everyone’s responsibility and within the context of this school, promoting the welfare and life opportunities for every child encompasses:-

• Attendance

• Behaviour Management

• Health and Safety

• Access to the Curriculum

• Anti- bullying

Failing to attend school on a regular basis will be considered as a safeguarding matter.

Promoting Regular Attendance

Helping to create a pattern of regular attendance is everybody’s responsibility, parents, children and all members of school staff.

To help us all to focus on this we will:

• Give all parents and carers details on their child’s attendance via school progress reporting methods on a termly basis

• Report to parents and carers if their child’s attendance becomes a cause for concern

• Celebrate good attendance by displaying and rewarding individual and class achievements;

The Law Relating to Attendance

Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 states that ‘the parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him / her to receive efficient full time education suitable:-

(a) to age, ability and aptitude and

(b) to any special educational needs he/ she may have

Either by regular attendance at school or otherwise’

Section 444 of the Education Act 1996, makes it a criminal offence for a parent to fail to secure their child’s attendance at the school at which they are registered, where that absence is not authorised by the school.

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