Attendance
At Katherine Warington School we recognise that attending school regularly and on time has a positive impact on learning, progress leading to much brighter futures.
Excellent attendance and punctuality is the key for our students’ success. Therefore, we aim to ensure that attendance and punctuality are as high as possible in order to prepare our students for adult life. We aim to reach an overall attendance target of greater than 96%.
The importance of attending school both regularly and punctually cannot be overstated, and it is fair to say that students can only make the most of the educational opportunities available to them at Katherine Warington if they maintain a good attendance record. Regular and punctual attendance is a habit and one that all parents should encourage; the link with standards of achievement is well proven.
Good attendance means that students establish good educational habits and routines, keep up with work more easily, develop well socially and have a good attendance record to show prospective employers. Poor attendance often means that students feel unsettled at school, struggle to keep up to date with their work and miss out on time with friends. There really is no substitute for being in the classroom.
We realise that there are many reasons why a student’s attendance may fall below the expected standard. Since opening in September 2019, we have supported a number of students whose circumstances, special educational needs or mental health have impacted their attendance. We like to work with children and families on an individualised basis and have had success in supporting a number of students to improve their attendance in challenging circumstances. If you feel you would like support with your child’s attendance or wellbeing, please do not hesitate to contact their Head of Year.
Katherine Warington School Telephone: 01582 314777
Email: absence@kwschool.co.uk
Absence Reporting
If your child is unable to attend school due to illness, urgent appointments or other reasons please use the Arbor Parent Portal APP which is quick and easy and our preferred way for contacting school (See user guide below). You can also telephone the 24hr school absence line on 01582 314800 or email absence@kwschool.co.uk
Please inform the school of absences by 8.30am at the latest, on the first day of absence and every subsequent day thereafter.
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Please provide your child’s name and tutor group
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Please give as much detail as possible for the reason of absence avoiding using terms such as ‘unwell’ or ‘under the weather’
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If you fail to contact the school to inform us of your child’s absence, this may be referred to our safeguarding team
Where possible, please give plenty of notice for any planned absence, for example hospital appointments, and provide a copy of any medical/dental appointment letters/cards to the school. We would appreciate all dental and non-urgent doctor appointments being made out of school hours.
Reporting Absences on Arbor Parent Portal APP – Guide
In order to report absence through the Arbor Parent Portal APP, go to the home page of the Arbor app.
To record an absence, click on the Quick Actions button and then click Attendance
From here click the green Log Absence button in the top-right of the page.
You can input a start and end time for the absence and type in the reason for the absence giving as much detail as possible.
By default, the absence start and end times reflect the student’s full day, but these can be adjusted as needed if a student will only be absent for a short time as a result of an appointment. Once you have filled in all this data, click ‘Log Absence’ and this will be visible to the school attendance team.
Please note that informing the school is a key responsibility of parents/carers. When staff from both the attendance and safeguarding team take time out of their day to chase families, it detracts from the support we can offer to students in school. Therefore, please ensure all reports are made by 8.30am and the school are informed every day that a student is absent.
Where possible, please give plenty of notice for any planned absence, for example hospital appointments. We would appreciate all dental and non-urgent doctor appointments being made out of school hours.
By working together, we can help students reach their full potential and make the most of the opportunities school has to offer.
If you feel you would like support with your child’s attendance or well-being, please do not hesitate to their Head of Year.
Punctuality
We understand that adverse circumstances will very occasionally force students to arrive late at school but would ask that all parents and carers remind students of the school rules regarding punctuality:
- Students should arrive at school and be in their form rooms before 8.30am and should register with their Form Tutor.
- Students arriving late should sign in at reception and explain their lateness to their tutor at registration. Students who are persistently late (late three times in a term, and each subsequent late thereafter) will attend a restorative meeting to discuss persistent lateness. Students may be issued with consequences if they are unable to give a legitimate reason for lateness.
- Morning registers close after 30 minutes at 9am. Students arriving late but before the end of this period will be coded L (Late before registers close) which is a present mark. Students arriving after this time will be classified as code U (Late after registers close) which counts as an unauthorised absence. Accumulation of unauthorised absences may invoke the school’s attendance process.
Attendance Matters
| = number of days absent | Approximate number of weeks | = number of lessons missed | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90% | 19 days | 4 weeks | 114 lessons |
| 85% | 29 days | 6 weeks | 174 lessons |
| 80% | 38 days | 8 weeks | 228 lessons |
Holiday Requests
The law does not grant parents/carers the right to take their children out of school during term time. If the request is for an absence in term time, permission must be sought in advance by completing the form below and sending it to the Headteacher to absence@kwschool.co.uk. If the circumstances relating to this request are considered exceptional and the absence is authorised by the school, the authorising of the absences will be conditional on the child(ren) attending satisfactorily up to the date covered by this request.
A need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation would not constitute as an exceptional circumstance. If the school refuses a request and the child is still taken out of school, this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. Absences of 10 more sessions (the equivalent of 5 school days) in the current or previous term within a rolling 10 school week period, could result in a parent/guardian being liable to a Penalty Notice for each child, or the subject of court proceedings which could result in a fine of up to £2,500. The 10 week period can span different terms of school years.
The school strongly advises parents/guardians to avoid booking holidays during term time. By taking family holidays during the designated holiday periods, you will be supporting your child’s full school attendance, learning and development. There are 13 weeks of the year to take holidays out of term time.
Penalty Notice Process
Separate notices are issued to each parent in respect of each child. Penalty notices are sent by first class post and are deemed to have been received on the second day after posting.
The amount payable is £160 (per parent, per child) if paid within 28 days, but will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days. A second penalty notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same child will be charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days. A third penalty notice cannot be issued within 3 years of the date of the issue of the first penalty notice. If this limit is reached, a parenting order or prosecution will be considered. If a prosecution goes ahead at court the fine could be up to £2,500.
