Attendance and Punctuality Expectations

Attendance Matters

At LSA we know that good attendance is key both academic success and to social wellbeing. Having good attendance and punctuality is an essential skill for all our students to have for their future beyond LSA. Instilling good routines and high expectations whilst at LSA will help ensure that your child is less likely to struggle later in life when they start work, an apprenticeship or university.

Our minimum expectation for attendance is set at 96%, but we would hope that our students are aspirational and will strive to achieve 100% attendance.

You can monitor your child’s attendance on Synergy and we will also use ATTEND to communicate further details about attendance and punctuality achievements or concerns throughout the year.

Reporting an absence

We appreciate that there are times when your child will be unable to attend school, e.g., due to illness. If your child is not able to be in school, then please report the absence using the Synergy App or by leaving a message for the Attendance Team on 01253 667411 as soon as possible on the morning of the absence. Please ensure that you leave a message as outlined above for EVERY day that your child is absent from school.

For safeguarding reasons, a text message will be sent to parents and carers if a child is not in school, and we have not been informed of an absence. Please ensure that your contact details are up-to-date to help keep your child safe. Any unreported absences will be recorded as unauthorised.

We understand that everyone is unwell from time to time and this is sometimes unavoidable but having time off regularly due to illness is a cause for concern. Having a cough, cold or being generally a bit unwell is not something that needs a day at home. For persistent absence due to illness, we may ask for medical evidence in the form of appointment confirmation or copies of prescriptions.

Appointments in school time

Where possible appointments such as medical, dental, optician appointments should be arranged outside of school time. If this is not possible, we expect your child to attend school before and after the appointment and we may ask for evidence of the appointment.

 

Punctuality

Being punctual is just as important as good attendance. When pupils arrive late, we find that they can start the day feeling more anxious and less engaged than they would if they had arrived on time. We ask for your support to ensure that your child is on time and is able to quickly settle in to their day so that they are not disadvantaged in any way.

The school day starts promptly at 8.40am and pupils are expected to be where they are registered at this time.

If a student arrives late to school but whilst the register is still open (before 9:10 am), they are marked as late (L on the attendance register).

If a pupil arrives at school after the register has closed (after 9:10 am), without a satisfactory reason, this may be classed as an unauthorised absence (U code on the attendance register) and may lead to prosecution for not ensuring your child has regular school attendance.

Legal Implications:

The threshold at which a penalty notice must be considered is set at 10 sessions (equivalent to 5 days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10-school week period. This may include absences as a result of arriving late after the register closes. The 10 school weeks may span different terms or school years.

Rewarding Attendance

As part of our weekly routines, we celebrate good attendance to school. School assemblies and form time include a focus on attendance, and we celebrate the attendance of individuals, form groups and houses throughout the year.

Rewards for individuals and form groups for good attendance and punctuality include:

• Year 7 and 8: students receive weekly 100% attendance certificates. These can be collected to be used towards rewards.
• Weekly certificates are awarded in assemblies to the highest attending form in each year group.
• Prize draws take place every half term for individuals in each year group or Houses for excellent attendance and punctuality. Prizes vary and include Love2shop vouchers and cinema tickets.
• Half termly prizes are awarded to form groups within each year group with excellent or improved attendance.