Attendance & Absence
Fulbrook believes that the life chances of all students can improve by ensuring that all staff, students, and parents/carers are aware of the importance of, and take responsibility for, regular attendance.
Students will want to attend regularly if they are in an environment which is caring and supportive, promotes respect for all and if learning opportunities are varied and focused on individual needs.
Fulbrook's Aims
- Students are supported in their learning in order that they can attain at the highest possible level
- Everyone is valued, praised and rewarded
- Positive relationships are promoted
- Everyone has the right to feel safe
- The curriculum will be designed to reflect the interests and needs of the students ensuring engagement and enjoyment in their learning
- There is an expectation that good attendance is the key to success
- The monitoring and evaluating of individual attendance patterns support the learning of individuals
Attendance is everyone’s responsibility
Students:
- Attend school each day
- Arrive at school and lessons on time and remain in their learning environment
Parents and Carers:
- Ensure that their child attends school regularly, properly equipped and in a fit condition to learn
- Inform the school, giving the reason for absence. Failure to do so may result in the absence being coded ‘unauthorised’. The responsibility for authorising the absence lies with the school and not the parent/carer
Heads of Years and Tutors:
- Invite parents into school to discuss problems with attendance
- Liaises with Attendance Officer re. identified issues to ensure a collaborative approach
Attendance Officer:
- Analyses data regularly to identify issues for Senior Management
- Contacts parents/carers in the event of a student absence
- Prints off tutor group attendance register, school attendance register
- Sends concern, percentage, absence and praise letters to parent/carers
- Works with Heads of Years and Tutors in the monitoring and early identification of attendance issues
Registration and Lateness
The register is a legal document.
Morning registration takes place at 8.30.am and the register remains open until 8.55.am
The main gates close at 8:25am. Students arriving after this time will enter via the pedestrian gate and sign in with a member of staff before entering school. The morning register will be marked by 8:55am. Students will receive a late mark if they arrive between 8:30am and 8.55am.
Absence
If your child is going to be absent from school, please contact the school office by calling 01908 582 022, or report on Studybugs, indicating the reason for being absent BEFORE 8:30am.
At Fulbrook, we use Studybugs to effectively respond to, and track, the spread of illness. When an illness is reported, Studybugs will automatically update attendance records on Arbor.
When setting up an account, the email address you use to log in needs to match email address the school has on your Arbor records.
Procedures for non-attendance
The school operates a first day response. If a student is absent and the school has not been contacted by the parents or carers, then the school office will contact them as soon as possible during the morning.
Authorising Absence
Authorised absences are morning or afternoons away from school for a good reason e.g. illness, medical appointment or another unavoidable cause. Absence can only be authorised by the Headteacher not by the parent/carer.
Unauthorised Absence
Unauthorised absences are those that the school does NOT consider reasonable and for which no ‘leave’ has been given, for example:
- Shopping/birthday trips
- Looking after younger siblings or assisting parents
- Absences that are not explained
- Truancy
- Arriving at school after the register has closed with no valid reason
- Holidays that do not meet the criteria of the Department for Education Guidelines and Fulbrook’s own policy on Leave during term time
Holidays in Term Time
Leave from School for the purposes of a family holiday is not a parental right. Government guidance advises that schools should only grant leave of absence during term time if the school considers that leave of absence is due to exceptional circumstances.
The Government describes exceptional circumstances as:
- For service personnel and other employees who are prevented from taking holidays outside term time
- When a family needs to spend time together to support each other during or after a crisis
This means that Fulbrook will not authorise holiday leave for the following reasons:
- Availability of cheap holidays
- Availability of desired accommodation
- Poor weather experienced during school holiday period
- Overlap with the beginning and end of terms
If you apply for holiday during term time, the application request should be submitted well in advance. If there is a special reason why you feel you need to take your child out of school a letter explaining should be sent to the Headteacher together with a Leave of Absence form.
