7 th September 2015 Dear Parents/Carers ATTEND TO ATTAIN De La Salle School is working in partnership with the St Helens Education Welfare Service to improve school attendance and punctuality. Our aim is for all pupils to achieve at least 95% attendance. Staff and parents work hard to try to ensure that every one of our pupils reach his or her full educational and social potential. In order to achieve this it is vital that pupils attend school every day, on time, properly equipped, ready and willing to learn. There is a proven link between attendance, attainment and pupil success. Lateness The morning register is taken at 8.30am. Pupils must be in their form room by this time. Any pupil arriving at registration after 8:30am will be marked late. If a pupils arrives at school after 8:40am they must sign in the late book at Reception. Two or more late marks in one week will result in an after school detention. Pupils who are consistently late are disrupting not only their own education, but also that of others. Where persistent lateness gives cause for concern, a meeting with your child s Progress Leader or Pastoral Support Manager will be arranged to discuss what support can be offered. Attendance Procedure If your child is absent, please contact school before 08:30am on the first day of absence to explain the reason why he/she is unable to attend, and on each subsequent day of absence, to keep us updated. A letter should sent into school on the day your child returns explaining their absence. For safeguarding reasons, if you have not contacted school, you will receive a text or phone call to ask you to explain your child s absence. If no explanation is provided, the absence will be unauthorised.
School may ask for medical evidence to support your child s absence, for example: Copies of appointment cards Hospital letters Medical boxes, clearly labelled by a pharmacist related to the illness. Parents/Carers will receive a letter if their child s attendance drops below 95%. We have an obligation to bring this to your attention, irrespective of whether or not the absences have been authorised by school. Progress Leaders and Pastoral Support Managers will monitor pupil s attendance and intervene where required, for example: A further letter home. A school attendance meeting. A Fixed penalty notice (a fine). These can be issued for unauthorised absence from school. Ongoing attendance issues could be referred to the Education Welfare Service. This could result in further fines or imprisonment. Persistent Absence You may be aware that the government have categorised pupils with an attendance of 85% or below (15% or more absence) as Persistent Absentees (PA s). From 1 st September 2015, the persistent absence threshold has been reduced from 15% to 10%. This means that any pupil with less than 90% attendance will be a PA. The table below is an estimate of the number of absences per term that would make a pupil a PA. Please be advised that two school sessions = one school day. The PA threshold takes into account all absence whether it has been authorised or not by the school. Half-term Number of sessions Number of days Half-term 1 7 or more 3.5 or more Half-term 1-2 (end of autumn 14 or more 7 or more term) Half-term 1-3 20 or more 10 or more Half-term 1-4 (end of spring term) 25 or more 12.5 or more Half-term 1-5 31 or more 15.5 or more Half-term 1-6 (full academic year) 38 or more 19 or more Under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996, it is parental responsibility to ensure that their child attends school regularly. St Helens Local Authority (LA) will support this school through the use of legal sanctions, including Penalty Notices, for periods of unauthorised absence under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996.
TO: Mrs Osborn Y7 Pastoral Support Manager I have received your letter and information regarding. Signed:
TO: Mrs Guy Y8 Pastoral Support Manager I have received your letter and information regarding. Signed:
TO: Mrs Abbott Y9 Pastoral Support Manager I have received your letter and information regarding. Signed:
TO: Mrs McLoughlin Y10 Pastoral Support Manager I have received your letter and information regarding. Signed:
TO: Miss Swaby Y11 Pastoral Support Manager I have received your letter and information regarding. Signed: