Attendance and Punctuality

Attendance

Our attendance target is 96%. Whilst we would always aim for 100%, we recognise that illness and, in some cases, ongoing medical needs may mean that students are occasionally unable to attend school.

However, aside from genuine illness, the impact of poor attendance can be significant. It not only affects a student’s academic progress, but can also impact their friendships, wellbeing, and sense of belonging within the school.

Although 90% attendance may seem acceptable, it actually equates to missing around 18 school days over the course of a year, more than three and a half weeks of learning. Both parents and schools have a legal responsibility to ensure that students attend regularly.

The pace of learning in secondary school is fast and subject specific. Missing lessons can lead to gaps in knowledge that are difficult to address, particularly as learning builds over time and across topics. This can have a direct impact on progress, confidence, and outcomes, especially in examination years.

While staff will always support students to catch up on missed work, this is not an ideal situation. For this reason, we strongly encourage families to avoid unnecessary absence wherever possible and to support students in maintaining high levels of attendance.

Contacting the Academy to report a child's absence

If your child has a sickness bug (vomiting or diarrhoea), they should remain off school for 48 hours after the last episode. This helps to prevent the spread of illness within the school community.

If your child is absent from school, parents/carers must inform the school on the first day of absence.

Please inform us of any absence before 8:00am on every day of the absence, by calling 01279 866280, selecting Option 3 and following the guidance detailed in the message.

You can also email attendance@markhallacademy.org 

Failing to call before the start of Home Group will mean you will receive a text or call from us, to check on your child, which you will need to respond to. It is a safeguarding requirement that we can confirm where every student is during school hours.

The timings of the Academy day

Students who are late to registration will receive a C3 after school detention for the following day. Persistent lateness may hold further sanctions, meeting with parents and a referral to our Attendance Team.

Students must additionally ensure that they are punctual to all lessons as poor punctuality to lessons can result in a Subject Detention. Lateness to lessons will not be tolerated as it interrupts teaching and learning.

Excellent attendance is vital. Evidence shows that there is a direct link between poor attendance and underachievement. Students not in school are more at risk of failing to achieve. In addition, they run a greater risk of being involved in crime, a victim of crime and putting themselves at risk.

The law requires that parents/carers are responsible for ensuring that their children attend school and are on time.

Attendance and Punctuality

We expect your child to attend the Academy every day and on time unless:

• They are too ill to attend;
• They have a medical appointment that can only be made in Academy hours;
• Other extreme circumstances where permission has been agreed by the Principal.

Unauthorised Absence

This is where your child has been absent and the absence has not been explained, or we do not consider the reason for the absence to be acceptable.

Truancy

This occurs when your child misses school without authorisation or registers for school but does not then attend lessons. Any truancy will be followed by a sanction, either a Phase Leader detention or even ‘internal exclusion’.

Leave of absence in Term Time

We do not authorise holidays during term time, ever. If you require your child to be absent from the Academy for extreme circumstances you will need to request a leave of absence application form from our Attendance Officer. You will need to give at least two weeks’ notice.

What will we do to monitor attendance and punctuality?

• We will contact you on the first day of absence, at home or work, if you have not previously informed us of the reason why your daughter is absent;
• Send you an absence letter if we have not been able to contact you after 3 days;
• Send you attendance and punctuality statistics each half term as part of our progress reports;
• Contact you and arrange a meeting to discuss any concerns we have over attendance and persistent issues with punctuality.

Fixed Penalty Notices

• We reserve the right to issue a fixed penalty notice if students are persistently late to the Academy.
• Any parent who takes their child on a leave of absence without Academy authorisation will be sent a fixed penalty notice upon the child’s return;
• Any student with less than 90% attendance with any unauthorised absence will be sent a warning letter and if no improvement is made then a fixed penalty notice will be issued.

Guidance for parents/carers

• Reinforce our expectations regarding full attendance and excellent punctuality with your son/daughter;
• Support Academy staff when we take action over punctuality or truancy, for example, issuing detentions;
• Let us know of any change in contact details immediately; Contact the Academy to inform us about any absence, the same day if possible;
• Ensure that your child completes any work that has been sent home or that they catch up with any work that they have missed.