Attendance
In order to ensure that all students have good school attendance it is important that all parents/carers support the school in aiming for 100% attendance each year for your child.
Did you know that of pupils who miss between 10% and 20% of school:
- only 35% manage to go on and achieve five A* to C GCSEs including English and mathematics, compared to 73% of pupils with over 95% attendance
- only 66% of pupils gained a Level 4+ in English or mathematics at Key Stage 2, compared to 87% of pupils with over 95% attendance.
DfE, 2011
What should I do if my child is absent from school?
Please telephone the school absence line on 01252 542397 (option 1) or email absence@coveschool.uk before 8.30am each day on the first day of absence and all subsequent days unless the school has indicated otherwise. A brief message is all that is required with your child’s name and tutor group. Please also state the reason for absence and the expected return date.
If your child is absent and we have not heard from you we will send a text on the first day of absence to request the reason your child is absent– this is because we have a duty to ensure your child’s safety as well as their regular school attendance. For further information see the attached flow chart below – Attendance Procedures for Parents and Carers.
What do I do when my child returns to school after an absence?
Please provide a signed absence note which should be given to your child’s tutor on the first day they return to school. We require a note even if you telephoned as this is the guidance from the Department of Education & Hampshire County Council.
Who should I write to if I need to take my child out of school for medical reasons?
Please send a note to your child’s tutor requesting absence for medical/dental appointments, alternatively please call and speak to reception or put a note in your child's planner.
Students leaving the school site during the school day must sign out at the Student Enquiries office, and sign in again upon return.
Parents must go to Reception and advise who they are collecting and what they are collecting them for. If you wish your child to walk home or make their way straight to the appointment, please contact the school on the morning to advise us.
NB: We would like to ask parents not to call or text their children during the school day. If an urgent messages needs to be passed to your child please call reception and we will ensure the message is passed on.
How do I request leave of Absence?
Amendments have been made to the 2006 regulations in the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulation 2013.
The DfE have made it clear to Headteachers that they may not grant any leave of absence during term-time unless there are exceptional circumstances.
These exceptional circumstances are defined as:
- for service personnel and other employees who are prevented from taking holidays outside term-time if the holiday will have minimal disruption to the pupil’s education; and
- when a family needs to spend time together to support each other during or after a crisis
In making a request for an authorised absence from school you will need to explain why the circumstances are exceptional. Please note there is no general right to authorise absence for a family holiday and if you take your child out of school without permission the absence will be unauthorised and we may refer the matter for consideration for legal action.
All leave of absence requests must be made in writing and sent to the Headteacher on ‘Request to authorise absence from school due to exceptional circumstances’ form. This is available from reception or on the form below.
Punctuality to school
We believe that punctuality is an important part of self-discipline and is essential to good time management. Students are expected to be on time for the start of morning and afternoon registration and for every lesson and should therefore be in the school grounds by 8.25am in the morning.
The statutory guidance from the DfE and Hampshire County Council expects all schools to monitor students who are arriving late to school. On-going and repeated lateness is considered as unauthorised absence and will be subject to legal action. Please see the ‘Lateness Concerns Flow Chart’ which outlines the procedure we follow, including the issuing of Penalty Notices for students who are persistently late to school.