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Attendance

Strategies for Maintaining Excellent Attendance for Parents and Carers

Important information regarding attendance and your child

Aim for 100% attendance.

Good attendance in school is essential for a child’s education. At Roding Valley High School we strive to ensure that children maintain a 100% attendance to maximise the learning opportunities extended to them. Maintaining a perfect attendance record is most certainly achievable but in the unavoidable event of your child being away from school, it is essential that the school is informed of the reasons for absence.

Persistent Absence

If a student’s attendance falls below 90% they are considered to be ‘Persistently Absent’ student by the Government, the Local Authority and the school. This is regardless of whether the school has authorised or unauthorised the absence. In some cases, at this level of attendance, the Local Authority may consider a fine.

90% attendance equates to 19 days of absence across the academic year.

Link between Attendance and Achievement

There is a clear link between attendance and school achievement. A student who maintains 90% attendance record throughout Years 7 – 11 will miss an incredible sum of six months of education over the duration of their school life. Research suggests that 17 missed school days a year equates to 1 GCSE grade drop in achievement. Attendance issues can also have a detrimental impact on friendship groups and self-esteem.

Advice and Guidance
  • Support of parent/carers is an essential ingredient in this equation. Preventing frequent lateness and avoiding medical/dental appointments during the school day are examples of where your support can have a direct impact on your child’s learning opportunities.
  • Minor ailments, such as a headache or a slight cold and cough, are not acceptable reasons for failing to attend school. Repeated absences may require the school to request that you obtain medical evidence from your GP surgery or local pharmacy as recommended by the Government.
  • If your child has a diagnosed medical condition or there are personal circumstances that prevent your child from attending school regularly and you would like to discuss this with the school then please do not hesitate to do so.
  • It is very important that your child gets a good nights sleep, for help and guidance The Sleep Charity can support, a post detailing the services they offer can be viewed here
  • We would also remind parent/carers that the law does not give any entitlement to parents to remove their child from school during term time for the purpose of a holiday. Headteachers may only grant a leave of absence where an application has been made in advance and the Headteacher considers that there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application. Unauthorised holiday leave can lead to a fine from the Local Authority.
  • If we are concerned about your child’s attendance and it has dropped below the minimum target we will write to you in the first instance informing you of our concerns. If after this your child’s attendance continues to be a concern the parent/carer will be invited to a school based meeting to discuss the issues.
  • Should Roding Valley High School have serious cause for concern regarding your child’s attendance a Legal Action Warning Letter will be sent which can lead to a penalty notice from the Local Authority.
  • We are confident that parent/carers will be keen to work with the school to ensure that students maintain good attendance since it is clear that this will have a positive effect on their learning. We as a school will continue to celebrate good attendance through certificates, progress points and rewards.

Should your child  be unable to attend school, you must call the school directly on 0208-508-1173, selecting Option 1, please state the name of your child, the form group and the reason for their absent clearly.

For further information regarding attendance please see our Attendance Policy.

Attendance Officer

Ms A Parsley
aparsley@rodingvalley.net

Sixth Form Administrator

Mrs N Sellears
nsellears@rodingvalley.net

Associate Assistant Headteacher

Miss H Reed
hreed@rodingvalley.net