Regular attendance and good punctuality are crucial factors in pupils achieving their full potential in education. At Frederick Bremer School we work in partnership with parents and carers in ensuring that our pupils attend school every day and on time. We are always pleased to work together with parents/carers in resolving any difficulties.
Please contact your child’s Head of Year to discuss any circumstances preventing your child from attending school and being punctual every day.
Ideally all pupils should aim for 100% attendance. However, the minimum target attendance figure for all pupils is a minimum of 97% attendance. Based on current attendance figures your child will be placed in one of the following groups below.
Group 1: No Concern (Green Group)
The child attends for 97% – 100% of the time.
Group 2: Concern (Yellow Group)
The child attends for 95% – 96.9% of the time.
Group 3: Risk of Underachievement (Amber Group)
The child attends for 93% – 94.9% of the time.
Group 4: Severe Risk of Underachievement (Pink Group)
The child attends for 90% – 92.9% of the time.
Group 5: Extreme Risk of Underachievement (Red Group)
The child attends for 0% – 89.9% of the time.
How do we monitor attendance?
We will monitor your child’s attendance on a daily basis. We will contact you via school Gateway whenever your child is absent without a reason. We support and guide pupils to ensure excellent attendance levels are maintained in school, to ensure all pupils reach their full social and academic potential. We have a clear sanctions system for pupils who are late to school or truant.
If a pupil is late for school they will receive a 15 minute detention on the same day at break time. Families who live outside Waltham Forest or who have to travel a considerable distance are asked to inform the school so that we can ensure that supportive measures are put in place for pupils in these circumstances.
Each week we will monitor the attendance of all pupils using a centralised tracking system. Pupils are placed in one of the five attendance groups above based on their cumulative attendance each week. If a pupil’s attendance decreases for one week then the form tutor will have an initial conversation with the pupil to find out why and to set them goals for improving their attendance.
If the decrease continues then the school will take various steps such as: writing to parents/carers, inviting parents and carers in for a meeting and placing the pupil on attendance report. When attendance is becoming a cause for concern or has fallen below 90% the pupil will be referred to our Education Welfare Officer.
Attendance is a key feature of assemblies and tutor time sessions. Each year group will have inter-form attendance competitions throughout the term and 100% attendance will receive praise.
What can parents and carers do to support good attendance?
- Ensure your child attends every day, on time (by 8.30am), equipped and ready to learn.
- Do not let your child take time off for a cold, headache, cough or minor ailment.
- Ensure the School has up-to-date addresses and telephone numbers. We will contact you if your child is absent and you have not contacted the school. This ensures that the absence is quickly identified.
- If your child is ill, contact the School on the first day of absence and provide an explanatory note on their return to school. Please call 020 8498 3332.
- If you do not send in evidence authorising your child’s absence, it is recorded as un-authorised. Ultimately the school is responsible for deciding if the absence is acceptable or not. Only genuine absence will be authorised. You will be asked to provide medical certificates if your child has a poor attendance record.
- Ensure that medical appointments are made outside of school time.
- Avoid trivial absences such as, ‘buying new shoes’. This would not be accepted as a reasonable absence.
- Holidays should not be taken in school time. Any Leave of Absence can only be agreed by the Head Teacher where there are exceptional circumstances. If a leave of absence during term time is unavoidable then parents and carers should write to the Headteacher. A penalty notice will be issued for parents who take their child on an unauthorised leave of absence.
- Respond to letters or telephone calls regarding attendance and punctuality.
- Contact your child’s Head of Year if you are concerned or require support in getting your child to attend
school - Parents/carer are legally required to ensure that their child attends school on a regular basis