Attendance

All pupils are expected to be on school site by 8.40am. Morning registration is taken promptly at 8.45. Pupils arriving between 8.45 and 9.15am will be recorded as late to school and if there is no genuine reason for lateness a same-day 15 minute late detention will be issued. Traffic, taking siblings to school, forgetting equipment or uniform are not genuine reasons for lateness.

Morning registers will close at 9.15am and any pupil arriving after this time will be recorded as unauthorised late, unless they have a legitimate reason e.g. medical appointment, an afterschool detention will also be issued.

The school expect medical appointments to be made outside of school hours or during holiday times, if this is unavoidable pupils should attend school either side of their appointment. The school must be made aware in advance of any appointments affecting a pupil’s attendance at school.

We encourage you to arrange routine dentist, opticians, doctors and orthodontist appointments outside of school hours or during the school holidays. Parents must provide evidence of the appointment for the absence to be authorised during school hours.

If your child needs to leave school during the school day, please email or call the attendance team with the full information. Students must sign out with the attendance office where they will be issued a pass to leave site. Students must also sign in with the attendance office when returning to school.

The Chase requires daily communication to cover absence from school and late arrival.

Reasons for absence: May we remind you that when phoning or messaging in for a student who is off school we need an actual reason for the absence. If you just tell us the student is ill/unwell/not well/poorly etc this will not be classed as an authorised absence.

Prolonged absence: You are required to contact us everyday by either phone or email if your child is not going to be in that day for illness or other reasons. After 5 days of continued absence the school will carry out a safe and well check as part of their safeguarding responsibility.

Issues at school

If you choose to keep your child out of school while issues are being resolved this may be classed as unauthorised absence. If you feel there is an issue that must be resolved before your child can attend you must contact the child’s Year Leader straight away so measures can be put in place.

Lateness

The school day starts at 8.40am with registration taking place at 8.45am in unit one. Any student who arrives after 8.45am is required to sign in at the Attendance office and will be receive a late mark. Students who arrive after 9.30am will have an unauthorised mark for the morning session, unless medical evidence is provided. The school day ends at 3.20pm.

Important legal information – New from August 2024

The Government has introduced a single national threshold for when a penalty notice must be considered by all schools in England. This threshold is 10 sessions (usually equivalent to 5 school days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period. These sessions do not have to be consecutive and can be made up of a combination of any type of unauthorised absence. The period of 10 school weeks can span different terms or school years.

A maximum of 2 penalty notices per parent, per child can be issued within a 3 year rolling period. This period will start from the issue of the first penalty notice. The national framework also sets out the escalation process which applies to such penalty notices. If the national threshold is met for a third time (or subsequent times) within 3 years, another tool should be used. This is likely to be forwarded to the Local Authority for their consideration to prosecute under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996 which can result in criminal conviction and a fine of up to £2500.

A parent includes any person who is not a natural parent but who has parental responsibility for the child or who has care of the child, as set out in section 576 of the Education Act 1996. Penalty Notices will usually be issued to the parent/s with day-to-day responsibility for the child’s attendance or the parents who have allowed the absence (regardless of which parent has applied for leave of absence).

The first penalty notice issued to a parent for a child will be charged at £160 to be paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days. Where it is deemed appropriate to issue a second penalty notice, the second penalty notice to the same parent for the same child within 3 years of the first offence, is charged at a flat rate of £160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days. There is no reduced sum available in this instance.

Part payments or payment plans are not acceptable and fines must be paid in full within 21 or 28 days, at the rate specified within the penalty notice. There is no right of appeal against a penalty notice.

Progress and achievement depend upon good school attendance. The school works rigorously to ensure that high levels of attendance are maintained and an excellent standard of punctuality is modelled by all of our students. We act swiftly to identify and address unauthorised absence or low attendance and will seek to resolve these issues.

The monitoring of attendance is supported by attendance, pastoral and teaching staff. We utilise reports within Bromcom to understand attendance on a daily, weekly, half termly and termly basis.

Every student should aim for 100% attendance and punctuality. Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure their child attends school. A child’s potential can only be reached if high levels of attendance are maintained.

The attendance and punctuality of students is monitored daily by form tutors, Year Leaders and the Attendance Team. We work closely with the Local Authority who support us if we need to issue a penalty notice for students who are persistently absent from school. The Local Authority is also responsible for pursuing court action if poor attendance continues. The school will utilise the Early Help Assessment to identify barriers and strategies to improve school attendance.

We encourage and reward excellent attendance and punctuality with achievement points and prizes at the end of each term during the celebration assemblies. Alongside this the school rewards and recognises improved attendance in students who have previously had low attendance.

This table shows the effect of attendance on academic progress. A student who achieves 100% attendance will average a Grade 7-9 in their best 8 qualifications.

Mental Health Difficulties/Mental Health

Unfortunately, mental health difficulties are becoming increasingly common in young people. The school can only authorise anxiety and mental health difficulties in students when they are receiving specialist support, this may be through CAMHS, Reach 4 Wellbeing, counselling or family support services. We cannot accept GP’s signing students off or just being told by a parent. If you need support and help with what to do please contact the attendance team or Year Leader for signposting. The school is here to support and has in house counselling and mentoring. However, waiting lists are long both in school and with NHS providers.  More information on the school’s Early Help offer can be found on the school website under the Care pages.

You will also find at the end of this pack supporting information on Mental Health with advice and resources. If your child is suffering with anxiety or their mental health is low it is important that you take them to the GP for discussion and referral.

Individual Health Care Plans

If your child has an Individual Health Care need, including diagnosed mental health, we require you to complete an Individual Health Care Plan from the school. This will include everything we need to know about your child’s medical condition so we can give them the correct care whilst in school. A meeting can be arranged for support in completing a plan or for more complex needs.

Individual Health Care Form

What is Medical Evidence?

If your child has low attendance or a significant amount of unauthorised absence you may be asked to provide medical evidence to authorise absence from school.

Medical evidence can be:

Prescription

Hospital Letter

Signed note from the GP or nurse

Medicine with prescribed sticker on it

Appointment card with name and date on it

If you are unsure please speak to a member of the attendance team for more information.