Attendance & Punctuality
Here at Amery Hill we firmly believe that students with good school attendance are more likely to benefit from education, make stronger friendships, achieve better examination results and go on to achieve well in life. It also allows them to make the most of the wealth of opportunities afforded to them here at school. Similarly, irregular or poor attendance at school can lead to students underachieving and underperforming in examinations and, therefore, impacting on the next steps in their educational journey.
We aim to work with families to remove any barriers to regular school attendance; we will seek to understand individual situations and work alongside parents to support students in order to ensure regular attendance is maintained.
The negative impact of poor attendance cannot be underestimated and by way of exemplifying this, the table below outlines the number of days and learning time lost when a student’s attendance percentage falls.
|
Attendance % |
Equates to days absent |
Equates to weeks absent |
Equates to lessons lost |
|
94% |
10 days |
2 weeks |
60 |
|
90% |
19 days |
4 weeks |
120 |
|
85% |
29 days |
6 weeks |
180 |
|
80% |
38 days |
8 weeks |
240 |
|
75% |
48 days |
10 weeks |
300 |
|
70% |
57 days |
11.5 weeks |
345 |
|
65% |
67 days |
13.5 weeks |
405 |
Students who are too unwell to attend school should be reported as ill by their parents on the first day of absence. Parents must call in, report their child’s absence via the Studybugs app https://studybugs.com/about/parents or via email to studentabsence@ameryhill.school EVERYDAY that their child is absent.
Should there be a barrier to attendance, we ask parents to communicate with their child’s tutor, in the first instance. We aim to work proactively with families, so communication should be clear and open from both sides in order to support the student. Parents may also find information about attendance support in our wellbeing section: https://www.ameryhill.hants.sch.uk/3464/support-with-attendance
In the event of problems relating to attendance, the progress leader and tutor will begin to work with both student and parent(s) to formalise an appropriate action plan. This may include praise and reward, work with one of our attendance champions, an attendance agreement, home visits or working together with partner agencies.
When a student’s attendance falls below 95% the following communications and actions will be put in place:
- Stage 1 – Letter home notifying Parent/Carers that their child’s attendance has dropped below 95% and is a concern
- Stage 2 – Formal letter from school expressing our continued concern that a student’s attendance has not improved
- Stage 3 – Formal letter requiring that a Parent/Carers provides medical evidence to support absence related to illness and advising that absences will be unauthorised unless evidence is provided
- Stage 4 – Parent/Carers invited for a formal meeting at the school - Penalty Warning given.
- Stage 5 – Formal letter to Parent/Guardians advising that a referral has been made to the Attendance Legal Panel or Fixed Penalty Notice given.
Amery Hill does not support taking a holiday in term time. Parents are strongly advised to avoid taking holidays during term time. If this is absolutely unavoidable, a leave of absence form must be completed. The completed form should be received at least a week before the period for which you are seeking authorisation and addressed to the headteacher.
If you require a paper copy, please contact the school office.
Useful links
NHS guidance for parents :
Should my child go to school today?
Studybugs APP:
https://studybugs.com/about/parents
Support with Attendance:
https://www.ameryhill.hants.sch.uk/3464/support-with-attendance