Attendance and Absence
Attendance
Kents Hill Park pupils are expected to attend school regularly and on time. Good attendance is vital, to allow pupils to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them and become confident, independent and forward-thinking adults, who are able to realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to their community.
There is a strong connection between attendance and achievement; pupils who miss more than 50% of school, only 3% achieve five or more GCSEs at grades 9 – 4, including Maths and English. 73% of pupils who have over 95% attendance achieve five or more GCSEs at grades 9 – 4. For the most vulnerable pupils, regular attendance is an important protective factor; research has shown associations between regular absence from school and a number of extra familial harms, including crime and serious crime.
Primary
Gates open at 8.25am for Foundation and Year 3
Gates open at 8.35am for Years 4-6
Secondary
Gates open at 8.20am. All students are expected to be in school by 8.35am.
Being on time, is a parental duty and we expect parents to support the school in encouraging this. Pupils failing to arrive on time will be sanctioned. Arrival 30 minutes later than the start times means your child will be recorded as late after the register closes, which is an unauthorised absence.
- The Attendance Lead is Miss Emma Harris
- The Attendance Officer is Mrs Lynn Ettaoussi
- The Attendance Assistant is Miss Emma Sadler
Absence
Reporting an absence
Please contact the school on 01908 533290Â by 8.25am on the day of absence and include the:
- Pupil’s Name and Tutor Group
- Reason for Absence, with a brief description. This is especially important if the absence is for illness, as the school monitors potential illness trends
For certain absences, such as medical appointments, either at the GP or hospital we ask for documentary evidence in line with the school’s Attendance Policy (link to policies page) and Local Authority guidelines.
Medical absence advice leaflet
Leave of Absence Requests
Whilst the school appreciates the difficulty in planning a holiday and the costs involved when choosing when to go, holidays should not be booked or taken during term time. In line with the Local Authority, any holiday taken of 5 days or more will incur a Fixed Penalty Fine, unless there are exceptional circumstances and evidence must be provided with a request. If a child is taken out of school for an accumulative total of 5 days or more (10 sessions) over a period of 6-10 weeks, the school is obliged to refer this to the Local Authority and parents/carers will be at risk of incurring a Penalty Notice. This risk increases if there are existing concerns relating to a child’s attendance and intervention programmes have been in place.
Please remember if a child is taken out of school for a religious event, weddings etc., it is also important that a ‘Leave of Absence’ form is completed. Hard copies can be collected by pupils from either Pupil Services or by parents from the school office.
Please inform the school as early as possible of the dates of the absence. Should a pupil be absent without the school’s knowledge, without advance notice or a lack of communication, it could create a safeguarding issue - especially if the parent/carer is unavailable to be contacted for several days.
Parent Contact Information
It is very important that the school has the correct contact details for parents and carers. Please inform the school on 01908 533290 if there is a change to a telephone number or email address. This is vital in case the school needs to make contact in an emergency.
