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 the school.
Katherine Warington School Absence Line Tel: 01582 314800 (24hr answerphone)
Email: absence@kwschool.co.uk
Absence Reporting
If your child is unable to attend school due to illness, urgent appointments or other reasons please telephone the 24hr school absence line on 01582 314800 or email absence@kwschool.co.uk b
-
Please provide your child’s name and tutor group
-
Please give as much detail as possible for the reason of absence avoiding using terms such as ‘unwell’ or ‘under the weather’
-
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.
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.
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
We strongly urge parents/carers to avoid booking holidays during term time. We appreciate there may be exceptional circumstances behind a request for leave. If this is the case, you should give a detailed explanation as to why it is necessary for you to take your child out of school by completing this form and sending it to absence@kwschool.co.uk where it will be forwarded to Mr Martin for his consideration.
Leave of absence for holiday purposes is only authorised under very exceptional circumstances. At Katherine Warington we do not believe that children should be removed from school during term time for this purpose and parents and carers should certainly not expect such leave to be granted as a right.