Attendance
Please refer to the Policies Page for the Attendance Policy.
By Law all children, at Stretford High School, of compulsory school age (11-16) must be a full-time education. As a parent, you are committing an offence if you fail to ensure that your child attends school regularly, even if they are missing school without your knowledge.
If your child fails to attend school regularly you run the risk of being issued with a penalty fine and/or being prosecuted.
What to do:
- If your child is ill
- If you have a family crisis
- If you have a medical appointment
- In unforeseen circumstances
- If your child is late
For any of the above circumstances you must contact school prior to 8.30am on the day of absence. This should be done EVERY DAY your child is absent.
Please use the Arbor app to report the absence or telephone school on 0161 876 1850, option 2.
Arbor is the preferred method of contact.
If you have not contacted school a representative from school may call at your home. This will be a member of the staff from school and/or the Education Welfare Officer. If school is still unable to contact you after a home visit the Police maybe contacted to complete a welfare check.
Attendance for all students will be monitored by the Attendance Officer and Head of Year. If there are any concerns about your child’s attendance you will be invited to attend a family support meeting.
School registration is at 8.30 a.m. and lessons start at 8.55 a.m.
Any Student that arrives after 8.30 a.m. must sign the late register, giving reason for the lateness. Students who are late will receive a detention that day after school. Parents/carers will be notified by text message. Persistent lateness will be followed up by the Attendance Office and parents/carers may be invited into school for a meeting. Arrival after 9.00am is recorded as an unauthorised absence.
All medical appointments are to be taken after the school day. School finishes at 2.10pm on Mondays and 2.55pm on Tuesdays to Fridays, allowing for any medical appointments.
If your child has an urgent medical appointment or a hospital appointment:
Parents/carers are to notify school giving as much notice as possible of the appointment. Evidence must be provided for the appointment otherwise the absence will be recorded as unauthorised.
On the day of the appointment:
- Parents/carers must provide a written note to advise what time their child will need to leave the classroom. Students are to show this note to the class teacher at the start of the lesson and to Student Services when signing out.
- Students are to wait at Student Services until parents/carers arrive in reception.
- Students will not be allowed to leave school until parents/carers arrive. If a Student is making their own way to an appointment Student Services are to contact parents/carers to confirm that the student is able to make their own way to the appointment and confirm the time that they are leaving school. Student will be not be allowed to leave school until we have spoken to a parent/carer.
- Students to complete signing out sheet. An appointment slip will then be completed by Student Services, given to the student who must hand this into reception to allow them to leave school.
Emergency Appointments on the day:
- Parents/carers to contact school as soon as possible. Evidence must be provided of the appointment otherwise the absence will be recorded as unauthorised
- Student Service will email the class teacher to advise that the student needs to sign out giving the time that parents/carers have stated.
- If parents/carers arrive in reception and the student has not left the lesson, a member of staff, where possible, will collect the student from lesson as soon as they possibly can.
As a multicultural school we aim to support all our students who wish to take leave from school for religious observance, with a maximum of 2 days per academic year. All requests must be put in writing giving advanced notice. If a student is absent and leave has not been requested, the absence will be marked as unauthorised in the register.
From the 1st September 2013, the new law gives no entitlement to parents/carers to take their child on holiday in term time. Any application for leave must be in exceptional circumstances and the Headteacher must be satisfied that the circumstances are exceptional and warrant the granting of leave. Any leave that is taken, which has not been granted, will be followed up by the Educational Welfare Officer and may result in a fine.
Parents/carers are therefore asked to note the following:
• There is no entitlement for parents/carers to remove their child from school for the purposes of a
holiday in term time
• In exceptional circumstances parents/carers can request to remove their child
• All such requests must be made on the school’s official “Student Request for Leave of Absence Form” that is available to download from our website or from reception – letters will not be accepted
• The “exceptional circumstances” must be clearly stated on the form
• The form must be returned to the school office at least fourteen school days before first day of the requested leave of absence. Forms submitted after this date will not be accepted
• Parents/carers should not assume that returning the form guarantees that the request will be approved
• Requests will need to be made in writing in respect of religious observance days giving at least 14 days’ notice
The Headteacher has the authority to decide whether or not to authorise the absence. In making a decision the Headteacher will take the following into account.
All requests for leave of absence will not be authorised. A Fixed Penalty Notice will be issued unless the students has exceptional levels of attendance (97% or above) at the start of the requested leave of absence date.
The Headteacher will also look at the following:
• The reasons given for the exceptional circumstance
• The time of the year and/or term
• The student’s previous attendance record – including any patterns of absences
• Whether the child will miss any preparations for/or any tests/exams
• The Headteacher will inform parents/carers of the reason/s for a request being refused
If a child is removed without approval, the absence will be marked as “unauthorised” in the class register. If a child is removed without approval and the absence exceeds 20 school days, your child may be removed from the Stretford High School’s roll. A child who is removed for a prolonged period in term time (that is – longer than a normal absence for sickness) will miss a large amount of school work while he or she is away and will be unprepared for the work on returning to school.
Student Holiday Requests
Taking Students Out of School
It is well known that missing school for any reason can cause a child to fall behind in their learning. Sometimes children also find it difficult to settle back into school after a break.
In the longer term, evidence shows that reduced levels of attendance are likely to affect the progress of any child, whatever their needs or ability, and can also result in lower levels of qualifications being achieved.
It is also proven that students with poor attendance at school are far more likely to be involved with, or victims of, crime or anti-social behavior.
It is therefore very important that we take our legal responsibility, to ensure that students engage with education, seriously. Stretford High School is committed to raising the levels of achievement for all children and young people and to ensuring that all children get the maximum benefit from their time at school.
Stretford High School has an excellent history of establishing and maintaining outstanding attendance.
We strongly encourage parents/carers to take holidays with their children during the school holidays, rather than during term time. Leave of absence for any reason should only be requested in the most exceptional circumstances. Medical appointments and dental checks should be organised whenever possible for after school / school holidays. Remember that lateness to school also constitutes absence if a student arrives after the register has closed at 9.00am.
What does the law say?
It is sometimes thought that parents/carers have a right to take children out of school for up to ten days a year for the purpose of taking holidays. This is in fact a myth, and there never has been a right to remove children from school for the purpose of a holiday at all.
In 2013 the Government took further steps to discourage holidays in term time. It passed legislation abolishing the right of schools to authorise up to ten days a year specifically for holidays.
This meant that from September 2013 leave of absence for any reason can only be granted if the school is satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist.
Even then, school is likely to refuse permission, especially if your child has a poor attendance record, your child is in Year 11, or if the holiday is at a particularly important time, such as in the run up to exams or at the start of a new school year.
What should I do if I wish to request leave of absence?
Absence request forms are available from student services or you can download the form here: Student-Request-for-Leave-of-Absence-Template
We would strongly recommend that you do this before planning any leave of absence. If the absence is due to visiting a sick relative, while this can satisfy the ‘exceptional circumstances’ ruling, proof of the sickness will be required.
Please return the completed form to your child’s Head of Year for the Headteacher’s consideration regarding authorisation.
What happens if my child goes on holiday in term time or takes leave of absence for other reasons without permission from the school?
In a Supreme Court decision (April 2017) a parent/carer was found to be guilty of a criminal offence for failing to ensure that his child attended school ‘regularly’. The rule for regular attendance can be decided by the school and is considered to be 97% at Stretford High School.
If the holiday is taken without authorisation the absences will be marked in the school register as unauthorised holiday (G on the register) and this may result in fixed penalty fines of £60 (rising to £120) per parent/carer per child being issued by the Local Authority. In some cases, parents/carers may be prosecuted for the offence of failure to ensure regular attendance at school.
The school will issue fines if unauthorised absence causes the child to drop below the school average value of 95%, if an authorised holiday extends beyond 10 school days, or if permission has not been requested.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank supportive parents/carers who make sure their children attend school regularly and on time. Thank you to every child and their parents/carers who meet our expectations and / or exceed it. We are working together to achieve success.