We have very high aspirations for all our students with regards to attendance, which is fundamental for success at school. Students are expected to maintain a minimum of 96% attendance and be punctual to all lessons and activities.
WHY IS HIGH ATTENDANCE IMPORTANT?
It is proven by numerous studies that regular attendance at school will help your child get the most from their education and that pupils who attend regularly are likely to develop both academically and socially, leave school with more qualifications, improve their life chances and have greater access to employment opportunities. For these reasons staff members monitor punctuality and attendance at Turing House School and take action when concerning attendance patterns emerge.
To clarify our overall attendance procedure: The school monitors the attendance of each student weekly and takes into consideration legitimate absence caused by illness. Attendance is rated as follows:
- Excellent: 98 – 100%;
- Very good: 96 – 97.9%
- Below expected level: 90 – 95.9%;
- Significantly below expected level: 85 – 89.9%
- Severely below expected level: 85% and under.
According to government guidance, any student who has an attendance figure of less than 90% is classed as being ‘persistently absent’.
How does Turing House School monitor attendance?
When a student’s attendance falls below target levels, a letter may be sent home. The letter sent will relate to the level of concern around the student’s attendance:
- Initial concern.
- Continued or increased concern.
- Significant concern. Evidence, medical or other, will be required to support any further absences. Absences without supporting evidence will, from then on, be classed as unauthorised.
- Severe concern. Referral made to the school’s Education Welfare Officer. Prosecution may be considered in non-medical instances.
Our Pastoral teams may also call home and arrange meetings to support parents with any issues that may be affecting a student’s attendance.
At Turing House School we are very proud of our high levels of school attendance and have high aspirations for all our students with regards to attendance. Our attendance level is significantly higher than the national average for secondary schools.
Absence due to illness:
If your child is not able to attend school due to illness, please contact us each day before 8.30 am. Please give an indication of the problem and when you expect your child to return to school.
You can report your child absent by:
- Using the Studybugs app (our preferred option - a link to download the app can be found on our website) https://studybugs.com/about/parents
- Emailing attendance@turinghouseschool.org.uk
- Calling the school absence line (0208 069 6100 option one)
Please note - unlike primary schools, Turing House School does not require students to remain absent for a set period after a sickness bug. If you feel that your child is ready to come back to school and is eating and drinking normally, please send them in at the earliest opportunity.
Medical appointments:
Whenever possible, medical appointments should be made out of school time. However, we understand that sometimes an appointment during school time is unavoidable. Parents/carers are asked to always book appointments late in the day, so that students can access as much learning as possible.
Please contact the school office via email attendance@turinghouseschool.org.uk with at least 24 hours’ notice of any absence requests for appointments. Where an emergency appointment is made and it has not been possible to give the school 24 hours’ notice, please contact the school office on attendance@turinghouseschool.org.uk, StudyBugs or by phone 0208 069 6100. On the day of the appointment, please remind your child to come to the office at the required time so that they can be signed out.
Avoidable absences and term time holidays:
One of our major concerns is avoidable absences, such as term-time holidays and days off for family events. The school does not authorise any term-time absence for holiday unless there are truly exceptional circumstances. Turing House School follows the guidance of Achieving for Children for Conduct and issues fixed penalty notices (FPNs) for unauthorised holidays. These FPNs are issued for unauthorised holidays where more than 2.5 days are taken in one case or cumulatively over a school year.
Punctuality
Students should arrive on the school site before 8.25am and be in their Tutor room at 8.30am. Students are marked late to school if they arrive after 8.30am.
If you are aware that your son/daughter will be late due to circumstances outside of their control, please email attendance@turinghouseschool.org.uk or call the student absence line 02080696100, (selecting option 1) to let the office know. Students will not be penalised for lateness if there is a genuine reason, but poor punctuality can have a significant disruptive impact on a student’s learning, and we ask all parents/carers to support the school in ensuring that students arrive on time.
If a student is late up to ten minutes they will receive a late detention at breaktime on the given day, for ten minutes. If they are late by more than ten minutes, they will receive a twenty minute late detention on the given day. In the rare instances when a student arrives late after registers close at 9.00am, this will be marked as an unauthorised absence for the whole morning session in accordance with protocols set out by the Department for Education. Please click here for the AFC guidance.
If you would like to discuss your own circumstances or if you are worried about anything related to attendance or absence from school please contact your child’s tutor or Head of Year, or by emailing attendance@turinghouseschool.org.uk