ATTENDANCE POLICY

You are expected to:
• attend 100% of lessons (including work experience or other school trips or visits)
• be punctual to all lessons, registrations am and pm, and assemblies
• get permission in advance for a negotiated absence (see below) with a letter from your parents/guardians explaining the reason and/or presentation of an appointment card
• contact the school office to report illness or sickness or any other non-negotiated absence before 9 am (this includes when you should be attending work experience, or trips/visits arranged by the school or link organisation). You should inform the school of the expected duration of your absence at the time you telephone the school.
• attend school every morning - there are no study leave allowances in the mornings. Year 13 students are allowed a maximum of two afternoons of study leave if they have no lessons. If they have one lesson, they must be there in the afternoon for that lesson.

The school is expected to:
• keep records of student attendance both at registrations and in lessons
• monitor student attendance and any absences

Getting permission for a negotiated absence
Occasionally you may need to apply for permission to be absent, for reasons such as those given below. You should negotiate such permission by your parent/guardian applying in writing to your tutor.

It is up to the school to agree this negotiated absence with you.

The following list gives some of the reasons where permission may be granted:
• official study leave with prior permission from school
• attendance at all examinations
• medical appointment (where it cannot be arranged out of school time)
• driving test
• religious holiday/festival pertinent to your faith
• maximum of two visits to university, eg to attend an Open Day
• attendance at university: for an interview or career related interview
• appointment with Connexions personal adviser
• participating in a significant extra-curricular activity eg Mock Bar trial, Sports Trials, Young Enterprise etc
• if you are officially the responsible carer for a family member and an emergency arises
• representing the school at an outside event

If you are ill (non-negotiated absence):
In incidents of genuine sickness, you or your parents must inform the school office of your absence before 9 am. A note should be brought to your tutor on your return; and after three days, a doctor’s note is needed. After a week, procedures will be put into place to assist the process of catching up with school work on your return.

Other kinds of non-negotiated absence - absence without permission
Permission for absence is not granted for the following:
• holidays, except under exceptional circumstances for the family (see below)
• part or full time work, which is not part of your programme of study
• leisure activities
• birthdays or similar celebrations
• babysitting younger siblings
• shopping
• driving lessons - these should be arranged out of school hours

The school reserves the right to investigate the validity of any non-negotiated absence further with parents/guardians.
Where it is impossible, owing to work commitments, for parents to take family holidays within the school vacations, permission may be given, in some cases, for the student to be absent. In such cases, a special green holiday form (available from the Head’s PA) will need to be completed and returned to the Headteacher, together with a letter from the parents/guardians. Such absence in the sixth form is strongly discouraged.

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