At Little Heath School we firmly believe good attendance and arriving on time are crucial factors in students achieving their full potential, staying safe and getting the most out of the whole school experience. 

There is a clear link between high attendance and high academic achievement and thus, absence, for any reason, has a negative effect on learning. Attendance is the responsibility of every stakeholder at Little Heath School: it is in everyone’s interests and it is everyone’s business.

Positive and consistent communication between home and school is central to improving and maintaining high levels of attendance. 

Attendance

We expect all our pupils to attend school regularly and on time.  We set all pupils a minimum target level of 96%. Pupils and parents should routinely monitor their attendance and punctuality on Satchel One. The school regularly reviews each pupil’s attendance and West Berkshire Education Welfare Service may get involved where attendance falls below 90%.  An attendance rate of 90% is equivalent to missing half a day of school per week or one day per fortnight.

The diagram below illustrates clearly the impact attendance can have on academic achievement. 

The aim should be 100% attendance all the time, although we understand this is not always possible. Ensuring regular attendance at school is a parent’s legal responsibility, but helping to maintain a regular pattern of attendance is everyone’s responsibility – parents, pupils and all members of school staff. 

We are keen to work with parents, pupils and the Local Authority to ensure attendance is as good as it can be to improve the chances of the young people in our care.  Pupils who miss school frequently can fall behind with their work and do less well in exams.

Good attendance and punctuality also show potential employers and colleges that a young person is reliable.

Punctuality

Punctuality is a very important part of time management and self-discipline. It is the responsibility of pupils and parents to ensure they arrive at school on time.

Below are the timings for the school day:

 

 

If a pupil arrives late to school regularly their learning begins to suffer. Each pupil is responsible for ensuring they are in the correct classroom at the right time. The bar chart below illustrates how being late to school every day over a school year soon adds up and this will understandably have a negative impact on learning. At Little Heath we believe that arriving to lessons punctually helps create a positive environment for learning and shows that our pupils are ‘Ready to Learn.’

Pupils can only enter school through the Sixth Form or Main Gate, and it is their responsibility to ensure they arrive in plenty of time to enter the school grounds by 8.47am at the latest and be in their tutor rooms by 8.50am. 

The Sixth Form gates are closed at 8.47am and any pupils arriving after this time will have to enter the school through the Main Gate, into reception and sign in using our Inventory electronic sign in system, which records the number of minutes late.  All pupils who arrive after 8.47am will be issued with a 25-minute lunchtime detention for that day.  Failure to attend the lunchtime detention will result in a 60-minute Same Day Sanction (SDS) that evening.  Parents will be notified via In Touch.

Pupils who arrive after the registers have closed at 9.15am will again have to sign in at Main Reception and be issued with an automatic after school Same Day Sanction of sixty minutes. They will be marked on the register as ‘U’. This counts as unauthorised absence for the morning session as registers have closed. This will therefore impact on a pupil’s overall attendance. Parents and carers should inform the school as soon as possible if there are exceptional circumstances that caused their child’s late arrival.

Pupils are expected to arrive to lessons on time. If pupils are late to 3 or more lessons or tutor times in a week, we will give pupils a warning and notify parents. If this continues the pupil will be issued with a Same Day Sanction for 60 minutes after school. Further lateness results in a SLT detention and then if this persists Internal Exclusion for the day. Where there is a persistent problem with getting to lessons or tutor time punctually, we will discuss with parents and further consequences will be put in place.

Absence

Parents have a responsibility to update us of any absences on the first day of absence and preferably before 8.30am. How to report absence:

• Contact school preferably before 8.30am.
• Ring 01189 427337 and select the absence line.
• Leave a clear message stating the child’s name, tutor group and reason for absence. 
• Alternatively, please send an email to: attendance@littleheath.org.uk to let us know of any daily absence so we can update our register, maintain accurate records and crucially, safeguard our pupils. 
• Please be aware that it is not enough to state that your child is ill / poorly, we require a little bit more information on the specifics of the illness for our records.

Unauthorised Absence

Please note due to new government statutory guidance holidays during term time will not be authorised and are never considered exceptional circumstances. 

Absence request forms can be found below.

Appointments during the school day

Dental and medical appointments should, wherever possible, be made out of school hours. If your child has an unavoidable appointment, we request that an email copy of their appointment letter is sent in advance to our Attendance Office to authorise as a medical appointment. When the time arrives for the pupil to leave school, they should report to Main Reception to sign out and sign in when they return to school. Please be aware, that although these may be an authorised medical appointment, if your child misses a morning or afternoon registration, the appointment will affect a pupil’s overall attendance percentage.

Sixth Form Attendance Policy

For information about the Sixth Form attendance, punctuality and absence procedures at Little Heath School, please click here.

For more information on attendance, absence and our procedures at Little Heath School, or to read the Attendance policy in full, please click here.