Attendance Policy
At Brannel School we want to do our best for all our students and believe that regular attendance is vital. We will consistently work towards a goal of 100% attendance for all children. Our Attendance Policy can be viewed from the School Policies page of this website.
- At Brannel School, good attendance is 96% and above. If your child’s attendance falls below this, you are at risk of committing an offence under the Education Act 1996 – see below.
- All requests for absence should be made formally to the Headteacher at least two weeks in advance using the Request for Absence form included in the Attendance Policy Appendix D on the policies section of our website.
- Only one leave of absence request will be considered per academic year. We will confer with other schools where there are siblings in more than one school.
- Absences will only be authorised for sickness (evidence may be required), religious observance, failure of school transport or where the Headteacher has given specific permission.
Absence request
All requests for leave of absence must be made to the school by completing a leave of absence form, which can be found below. The school is not allowed to grant leave of absence unless under exceptional and documented circumstance. Leave of absence for holidays is no longer permissible under government guidance (November 2012). The school has to warn parents that if you take unauthorised leave of absence then you will be liable to a fixed penalty fine issued on our behalf of the local authority.
What do we do at Brannel to promote good attendance?
We like to celebrate good attendance. Over the last two years we have seen our overall school attendance increase from 93% to 94.6% which is extremely positive news. We will, however, continue to work hard to reach our target of a whole school attendance of 96%. Some of the things we have introduced are:
- Recognition of those students that attend 100% for the week by awarding merits, and those that are making improvements with their attendance
- Fortnightly highest tutor group award
- Half termly attendance awards, including Amazon vouchers, cinema tickets and merits
- Individual attendance support plans for students who need extra help with their attendance issues
- Recent introduction of tutor attendance reports to encourage students to attend more regularly, giving them responsibility for their own attendance
- Regular meetings with Heads of Year and Senior Leadership Team about school attendance
- Regular update on attendance matters on our Facebook page and website
Please note that we monitor attendance regularly. If your child’s attendance falls lower than 90% or causes concern, you may be contacted by the school’s Education Welfare Officer.
Contact
Please contact the school’s Student Welfare Officer, Mrs Caroline Hunt, to discuss any issues with school attendance. [email protected]
Alternatively please contact a member of the Pastoral Team.