Why is attendance important? 

Good attendance and punctuality play a vital role in a student’s school life and academic achievement. Regular attendance and being punctual will help students in their adult lives by preparing them to enter the world of work. Good attendance at school will also help students to develop social skills, make friends, and help them to communicate well with others.  

Our Expectations

All students should aim to attend school every day for the full day. Across the school year (190 days), this would be 100% attendance.   

96% attendance is the minimum that we would expect. If attendance falls to 90% or below, students are classed by the government as being a persistent absentee.  

One day’s absence from school means that 5 lessons have been missed.   

Attendance percentages are not like examination results. 

An attendance percentage needs to be 96%+ before it can be considered excellent. Consider the impact of the following examples over the course of a school year (190 days):  

• 10 days absence = 95% attendance = 50 lessons missed  
• 20 days absence = 89% attendance = 100 lessons missed  
• 29 days absence = 85% attendance = 145 lessons missed  
• 38 days absence = 80% attendance = 190 lessons missed  
• 47 days absence = 75% attendance = 235 lessons missed   

Punctuality

A student regularly arriving late for school will lose valuable learning time. For example:

• 10 minutes late each day = 32 lessons missed = over 6 days of school
• 20 minutes late each day = 64 lessons missed = over 2 weeks of school

Students are expected to arrive at the school site by 8.45am each day, in order to attend registration and start learning at 9.00am.

Working together

• Parents/carers are responsible for ensuring their children attend school both regularly and on time.  
• Southlands School recognises that some pupils may require additional support to keep up good attendance.  Parents/carers should make school aware of any difficulties or changes in circumstances that may affect their child’s attendance and or behaviour in school. For example, bereavement, divorce/separation, incidents of domestic abuse. This will help the school identify any additional support that may be required. 
• The school is legally responsible for reporting poor attendance to the Local Authority.  
• The Local Authority has a duty to make sure that all parents/carers fulfil their responsibilities.  
• Parents/carers should ensure that school is updated with new contact details for themselves and their children, including addresses, phone numbers (particularly mobile numbers) and email address changes.  

A Reminder for Parents – Leave Of Absence during Term Time

As you will all be aware, current attendance regulations stipulate a Head Teacher may not grant a leave of absence during term-time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Each application for a leave of absence will be considered on a case by case basis and on its own merits. It is for the Head Teacher to decide what he/she views as ‘exceptional’ and it is at their discretion if the circumstances warrant the leave to be granted. If the leave is granted, the Head Teacher is able to determine the number of school days a child can be absent for.

The school can only consider Leave of Absence requests which are made by the ‘resident’ parent. Where applications for leave of absence are made in advance and refused, the child will be required to be in school on the dates set out in the application.

If the child is absent during that period, it will be recorded as an unauthorised absence.

Important Website Links

School Attendance North Tyneside Click Here
Government Attendance and Absence Click Here