Grow Your Potential
Attendance Policy
Introduction
Regular school attendance is crucial in raising standards in education and ensuring that every child can have full access to the school curriculum and reach their potential. Grow Your Potential CIC will strive to promote an ethos and culture which encourages good attendance and where each learner will feel valued and secure. Poor attendance will be managed with effective monitoring, recording and information being shared within expected timeframes so that attendance strategies can be followed and issues addressed.
Aims
- To improve/maintain the overall attendance of learners at Grow Your Potential CIC
- To develop a framework that defines roles and responsibilities in relation to attendance.
- To provide advice, support and guidance to parents/guardians and learners.
- To promote good relationships with the Education Welfare Service.
The Senior Leadership Team at Grow Your Potential CIC has overall responsibility for learner attendance; this includes ensuring that referral agencies and parents are notified of non-attendance.
Teaching staff regularly monitor the attendance and punctuality of learners by ensuring that attendance is recorded at the beginning of morning and afternoon registration sessions. This information is shared with Schools/LA/Referral agencies at the end of each day and summarised in weekly progress reports.
Grow Your Potential CIC is committed to working with parents to encourage regular and punctual attendance. Parents have a legal duty to ensure their child of compulsory school age shall receive efficient full-time education suitable to age, ability and aptitude and to any special educational needs they may have, either by regular school attendance or otherwise.
Role of Parents
Parents have a legal duty to ensure that their child regularly attends education. It is a parent’s or guardians’ responsibility to inform Grow Your Potential CIC of the reason for a learner’s absence on the first day of absence by 9.15am. If the absence is likely to be prolonged, this information should be provided to enable Grow Your Potential CIC to assist with homework or any other necessary arrangements which may be required.
Learners are expected to be in education at 9.30am for registration and the beginning of classes. It is the responsibility of parents to ensure that their child is punctual. Lateness is recorded at registration and on the child’s attendance record.
If the child appears reluctant to attend school, parents are expected to discuss the matter promptly with Grow Your Potential CIC staff or Referrer, to ensure that both the parent(s) and child receive maximum support.
Role of Learner
Each learner at Grow Your Potential CIC must attend punctually and regularly as per their agreed timetable. If they have any concerns or issues that may affect their attendance, they should speak with a member of staff before attendance becomes an issue.
Holidays
Grow Your Potential CIC discourages holidays during term time due to the impact they have on learners’ learning. Family holidays taken during term time will be categorised as an unauthorised absence. Only in exceptional circumstances will a holiday be authorised.
Non-attendance
Procedures for Managing Non-attendance are as follows.
- Parents/Guardians must contact Grow Your Potential CIC by 9.15am on each day of non- attendance.
- Where a learner has not attended and a Parent has not contacted Grow Your Potential CIC, Parents will be contacted by 10am to notify them of the unauthorised absence.
- Non-attendance will be recorded on CPOMS with the date, any action taken and any follow up action required.
It is the duty of all parents; under the provisions of section 7 of the Education Act 1996, to ensure that their children attend school (education provider) regularly, regular attendance also meaning punctual attendance. Failure to comply with this Act may render you liable to prosecution in the Magistrates Court, where if you are found guilty of an offence, the maximum fine is £2,500 (aggravated offences) for each parent, Community Orders and / or 3-month imprisonment. In certain circumstances it may be necessary for the local authority to apply for an Education Supervision Order for your child in order to secure regular school attendance.