Every Day Counts at Heath Lane Academy!
Attendance
Attendance Matters Here at Heath Lane 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.
Absence Procedure
If your child is unable to attend school, please notify us by messaging via the Weduc app before 8.15am giving the following details:
- Full name of pupil;
- Pupil’s Year group or Form;
- Full name of person reporting absence and relation to child;
- Reason for absence.
Where possible please also provide evidence of any appointments or medical documentation.
Please ensure that we are informed of a continuing absence as early as possible on every subsequent day of absence.
Late Procedure
The school day starts at 8.40am. We expect your child to be in school at that time. 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
Poor punctuality is unacceptable as it causes students to miss essential work and disrupts lessons. Students must line up by 8:40am. Late arrivals will complete a break time sanction, and repeated lateness results in detention from 3:10pm to 4:00pm. Students arriving after 9:10am will receive an unauthorised absence mark.
Lateness to lessons
Poor punctuality disrupts lessons and causes students to miss essential work. Students must move promptly to their lessons. Late arrivals will face sanctions, including break detention, after-school detention, and for persistent lateness; time in the Reflection room.
Parents may face prosecution if their child is often late after the register has closed. We'll watch for this and offer support. If the problem persists, we will take action.
The rest of this document outlines our Attendance Policy and Procedures. We encourage all parents to review it. This ensures they understand how we handle attendance.
The Importance of Good Attendance
We reward those students whose attendance is good or better, or showing signs of significant improvement.
The range of rewards we use includes certificates, tickets for Attendance Reward Movie experience and invitations to high profile events such as the Year 11 Prom.
Regular attendance of students is closely related to their levels of achievement.
This makes the issue of regular attendance of great importance. Under education legislation, parents have a duty to ensure that their children attend school regularly and punctually. Failure to do so, without reasonable excuse, can result in referrals to the Local Authority with the prospect of fines or prosecution for those parents, should a child’s attendance not improve rapidly.
What is Good Attendance?
It is useful for you to know what attendance figures mean for your child. We encourage all parents and carers to use the Arbor app in order to monitor their child's attendance.
Our minimum expected target for all students is 97%.
All students whose attendance is below 90% are classified as Persistent Absentees and, depending upon personal circumstances, face possible referral to the Education Inclusion Partnership Team.
The image below provides more detailed information about attendance over the course of a full academic year.
Parents are expected to perform their legal duty by ensuring their children of compulsory school age who are registered at HLA attend regularly and arrive to school on time. If a child of compulsory school age fails to attend regularly at a school at which they are registered the parents may be guilty of an offence and can be prosecuted by the local authority.
Our attendance team supports parents, students, teaching staff and other professionals to secure the highest possible attendance for all students at the academy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Happens If My Child's Attendance Is A Concern?
We will ensure that you are regularly informed of your child's attendance. If your child's attendance becomes a concern, you may receive a letter requesting that you attend a meeting with a member of staff in order to discuss the barriers to attendance.
What If I Need To Make A Medical or Dental Appointment?
We hope you will support us in maintaining good attendance by booking medical and dental appointments and shopping trips either in the school holidays, after 3.10pm or at weekends.
The current school year has 188 days. This means that there are 167 other days that are available for appointments to be made. Most medical and dental surgeries also offer appointments outside of school hours.
How Do I Request A Leave Of Absence For My Child?
Should you wish to request to take your child out of school for exceptional circumstances, please contact us and request a Leave of Absence Form, also available to download, using the link below.
These forms should be returned to Reception or via your child's Form Tutor Pastoral Leader at least 2 weeks before the requested dates for absence.
Once received, the Principal or the Vice Principal in the Principal’s absence will consider your request. Only those requests which are considered to be due to exceptional circumstances will be authorised.
Any requests for leave of absence that are submitted with less than 10 days notice will be coded as unauthorised.
What Are The Rules About Term Time Holidays and Penalty Notices?
New regulations from the Department for Education regarding term time holidays came into force on August 2024. In summary, Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term-time except for exceptional circumstances. The new regulations remove any reference to family holidays, extended leave and the statutory threshold of ten school days. I have copied the DFE regulations below for your information and urgent attention. Please take the time to read these as they may have a serious impact upon parents who choose to remove their children from school during term time for holidays.
The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006
Amendments have been made to the 2006 regulations in the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013. These amendments, as described below, will come into force on 1 September 2013.
The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 currently allow Headteachers to grant leave of absence for the purpose of a family holiday during term time in “special circumstances” of up to ten school days leave per year. Headteachers can also grant extended leave for more than ten school days in exceptional circumstances.
Amendments to the 2006 regulations remove references to family holiday and extended leave as well as the statutory threshold of ten school days. The amendments make clear that headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Headteachers should determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if the leave is granted.
The Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024
The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 444A(6), 444B(1), (2) and (4) and 569 of the Education Act 1996(1) and sections 105(5), 106(1), (2) and (4) and 181 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006(2).
These Regulations may be cited as the Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024. These Regulations come into force on 19th August 2024.
The amount of the penalty to be paid under a penalty notice issued to a parent under section 444A(1) of the 1996 Act is as follows.
Where no penalty notice has been issued to the parent under section 444A(1) of the 1996 Act in respect of the same child in the preceding three-year period, the amount of the penalty is:
- £80, where the amount is paid within the period of 21 days beginning with the date on which the notice is received;
- £160, Where a penalty notice has been issued to the parent under section 444A(1) of the 1996 Act in respect of the same child in the preceding three-year period, the amount of the penalty is £160.
- “Preceding three-year period” means the period of three years ending with the date on which the penalty notice is issued.
