Attendance and Punctuality Matters

Academic Achievement

At Ripley we want every pupil to be the best that they can be and to achieve their full potential.  Good school attendance and punctuality is the key to this.  The graphs show how good attendance significantly increases the chances of success at GCSE.

That is why our minimum attendance target is set at 97%.  We do, however, expect our pupils to aim to achieve 100% attendance.

It will come as no surprise that there is a direct link between a pupils’ attendance and their progress and attainment within all aspects of a child’s education. Please see the table below that shows just how days off can massively affect the hours of learning and development lost over a year and a child’s school career.

Since the COVID pandemic, there has unfortunately been a decrease, nationally, in pupils’ attendance in schools. As a result, the Department of Education have published new statutory guidance that came into place from the start of the 2024-25 academic year.

The publication states that all parents and carers should:

· Ensure their child attends every day the school is open, except when statutory reason applies.

· Notify the school as soon as possible when their child is unexpectedly absent (e.g., sickness)

· Only request leave of absence in exceptional circumstances and do so in advance.

· Book any medical appointments around the school day, where possible.

Punctuality

Being punctual is just as important as good attendance.  When pupils arrive late, we find that they can start the day feeling more anxious and less engaged than they would if they had arrived on time.  We ask for your support to ensure that your child is on time and is able to quickly settle in to their day so that they are not disadvantaged in any way.

The school day starts promptly at 8.40am and pupils are expected to be where they are registered at this time.

Preparing for Adult Life

Having good attendance and punctuality is an excellent skill to have going into the future.  Instilling good practices in school ensures that your child is less likely to struggle later in life when they start work, an apprenticeship or university.

Friendships

Good attendance is not only vital for academic achievement, it also helps your child to forge and maintain positive friendships which can be good for mental health and building resilience.

There are lots of co curricular activities at Ripley which your child can become involved in to enable them to further widen their school friendship circle.

Pastoral Support

At Ripley we endeavour to work alongside parents and we have a number of ways we can help if there are any issues. However, we can only ensure that your child is fully supported if they are in school.

If you have any pastoral concerns, the best way to contact us is via Parentline in the first instance.

Cause for Concern

We will start to be concerned if your child’s attendance dips below 97%.  We do monitor attendance closely but if you have any concerns, please contact us via Parentline as early as possible so that any appropriate support can be put into place.

If your child’s attendance dips below 90%, this is a serious concern and our pastoral and attendance staff will be in touch and may invite you to meet with them so that a support plan can be put in place to help move things forward as quickly as possible.  This will be reviewed to make sure that things are moving in the right direction.

Pupil Absence Reporting

We appreciate that there are times when a child is unable to attend school, e.g., due to illness.

If your child is unavoidably not able to be in school, then please leave a message on our absence line by ringing 01524 64496, selecting the correct option for the key stage of your child, as soon as possible on the morning of the absence.

For safeguarding reasons, a text message will be sent to parents and carers if a child is not in school, and we have not been informed of an absence.

Please ensure that you leave a message on the absence line for EVERY day your child is absent from school.

Any unreported absences will be recorded as unauthorised.

Everyone is unwell from time to time and this is sometimes unavoidable but having time off regularly due to illness is a cause for concern.  Having a cough, cold or being generally a bit unwell is not something that needs a day at home.  For persistent absence due to illness, we may ask for medical evidence in the form of appointment confirmation or copies of prescriptions.

Covid – if your child tests positive for covid, they must isolate for three full days (not including the day they tested positive).  If they feel well after three days and do not have a high temperature, they may return to school.

Sickness and diarrhoea – if your child is unwell due to a sickness bug, they may return to school after 48 hours from the last episode of sickness or diarrhoea.  If they have had sickness or diarrhoea due to any other medical condition, such as migraine or anxiety, and are not infectious, they may return to school as soon as they feel well enough to do so.

Routine appointments in school time

Where possible appointments such as medical, dental, optician appointments should be arranged outside of school time.  If this is not possible, we expect your child to attend school before and after the appointment and we may ask for evidence of the appointment.

For last minute appointments, please leave a message on the absence line to confirm if your child will be late or leaving school during the day to attend a medical appointment.

For routine absences such as medical / dental appointments and funeral absences for up to one day, we ask that parents follow the procedure below:-

When you are able to give 48 hours or more notice of your child(s) absence from school then please use Parentline to let us know.

Holidays in term time

There is no automatic entitlement to any leave in term time therefore parents must seek school’s permission before taking their child out of school. To request leave of absence from school, please complete the application for leave of absence form which can be found below, providing full details and any supporting evidence when you submit the form.

The Heads of School may authorise a leave of absence in exceptional circumstances. This must be requested at least two weeks in advance and agreement to each request is at their discretion. Each case will be judged on its merits and their decision is final.  The Heads of School will not authorise a leave of absence for the purpose of a family holiday.

There may be occasions where, even in exceptional circumstances, school may not agree leave, for example during exam weeks or important transitional periods.

Leave of absence cannot be granted retrospectively. If a leave of absence form is not submitted in advance, the leave will not be granted and the absence will be recorded as unauthorised  (p90 of Working together to improve School Attendance, Department for Education)

Leave of Absence Request Form Years 7-11 PDF

Important update -Changes to Education-related Penalty Notices – Information for Parents:

Changes to Education-related Penalty Notices – Information for Parents

Attendance Codes and Attendance Policy

Attendance Policy