Attendance Matters
At Neale-Wade Academy we have the highest expectations across all areas of school life including attendance. We value positive relationships between both staff and pupils, and want all pupils to feel they belong here and are valued. We work with our pupils to ensure that they have the highest possible attendance at school. We believe that this is the best way for them to succeed and to get the most out of all we have to offer.
There is a clear link between academic outcomes and school attendance. We want all pupils to achieve excellent outcomes to give themselves the very best chance in life. There are 175 non-school days per year for holidays, shopping and appointments. There is no need, except in extreme circumstances to miss a day’s education. If you miss one session in a week (remember, there are two sessions per day) your attendance is 90%. This means you miss 19 days of education in a year and risk dropping one grade in your GCSEs. It is vital we work together to teach our pupils the value of attending school each and every day. However, we do appreciate that at times, pupils may not be able to attend school. In situations like this, we ask our parents and carers to follow the correct processes as they support our safeguarding procedures.
Should you have a concern about your child’s attendance, then we ask that you contact us to discuss this. We believe in strong partnerships across all parts of school life. This includes attending school. It is also important to us that pupils arrive to school on time, and they must be at school by 08:45.
Absence through illness or unforeseen circumstances
On the rare occasion that your child is ill or cannot attend school due to an unforeseen circumstance, please email attendance@neale-wade.org . It is essential that you leave your child’s name, their year and form, and the reason for their absence. You should expect to receive a call back from the school to discuss your child’s absence and to see if we can support in any way. If pupils suffer any form of injury, then we ask that you contact the school to make us aware. This is so we can do a risk assessment with you. It will identify impacts of the injury and the support your child may need.
We ask that you contact the school by 08:15 to make us aware of your child’s absence.
Attending an Appointment
Please schedule dental and non-urgent medical appointments outside of school hours. We know this might be tough for hospital visits. If rescheduling fails, your child must bring a medical letter or appointment card. We need it for our records. Pupils must be picked up and returned to school if their appointment ends during the school day.
Known Absence
Your child may need to miss school for exceptional reasons. If so, parents/carers should ask Mr Horn, Principal. They should do this by completing the absence request from the school’s website and sending it into the school by emailing attendance@neale-wade.org. Where possible, this should be made at least four weeks before the required date. If such a request is made, the school expects it to be short. But even then, they may not be able to approve it. If Mr Horn, Principal does not authorise it, then any absence is 'unauthorised' and can incur a penalty. We must follow legal rules. Therefore, we cannot approve holiday requests during term time. Additionally, we may issue penalty notices.
Support
We take absence very seriously. We are committed to supporting any child who is finding it difficult to attend school regularly. We will target support for any pupil whose attendance falls below 92%. Further information on support can be found in the full policy, however, the work objectives of any support is to remove barriers that might be preventing your child from attending school and ultimately achieving academic success.
Punctuality
The school day starts at 08:45 and we expect your child to be in school at that time and arrival after that time will mean the child is late. Lateness means they miss out on important routines which help get their day off to a positive start. Late arriving pupils also disrupt lessons during the day for others.
How we manage lateness to school and lessons
Lateness to school
At 08:50 the school gate closes and students who arrive after this point have to sign in with the attendance officer at the late gate. Students who are late to school are issued with a 1 hour afterschool detention. In a rare instance where lateness is unavoidable, please email both attendance@neale-wade.org and the student’s Head of Year outlining the reasons for their lateness.
Lateness to lessons
Students have 6 minutes to move between lessons throughout the day. If a student arrives to their lesson after the second bell has sounded they will be removed from the lesson and issued with a 1 hour detention. In light of an emergency students should go to their next lesson and ask the teacher to call for support. In extremise we ask that students go to Student Services. This is to ensure students are registered and accounted for to ensure we meet all safeguarding requirements.
Rewarding positive attendance
Throughout the year students’ positive attendance will be celebrated through 100% Club certificates, positive attendance lapel badges and positive reward excursions. In addition, we hold tutor group and year team competitions, which include weekly rewards and termly celebration pizza parties.
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