Attendance & Behaviour
At Heath School, we work closely with our families to make sure all students have very good attendance. We know this contributes to their success at school.
Our approach is to recognise and reward students for excellent attendance and punctuality, and for making good progress on their baseline. Easy-to-understand behaviour procedures, clearly communicated in every classroom, mean that our students know what's expected from them. And our exciting rewards and incentives programme helps them to make the best choices.
If there are issues creating a barrier to attendance, we'll work together with the student and family to resolve them swiftly, sensitively and in a supportive manner. Our Attendance Lead works closely with our multi-agency team and with the local authority, to make sure the young person's best interest is prioritised, and that students don't lose out on their education.
We understand how important it is to work closely with parents and carers, and regularly share information through our school website, newsletters, student reports and progress review meetings.
View Our Attendance Procedure Chart
Attendance Procedures |
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| Point of Referral | Attendance Lead requests student attendance from their previous school, for this academic year and previous year. | Referral to Early Help is considered for students with significant, long term poor attendance. | ||||||||
| Induction Meeting | Attendance Lead meets with parent/carer and student on induction to explain procedures and expectations, including use of caddy |
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| Standard Procedures, Attendance Baseline and Attendance Target |
Baseline attendance Set, based on previous school attendance or attendance at Heath School for the previous year, if they were on roll for the whole year. |
Attendance target Set in light of previous year’s attendance; this is reviewed and updated half termly by the Attendance Lead and tutor team. |
Weekly monitoring Attendance in tutor time; students record and track their own attendance. |
Absence from school Daily phone call and/or text to parent/carer; caddy pick up for targeted students. |
Generic letter sent to parent/carer at the start of each term highlighting the importance of good attendance & punctuality. |
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| Poor Attendance and Punctuality Procedures | Stage 1 |
Attendance Letter Targeting poor attendance or punctuality. |
Formal Monitoring Parent/carer meeting; attendance plan put in place as appropriate; follow up attendance letter sent, highlighting improvements or continued concern. |
Final Letter If there is no improvement, informing that the next step is referral to EWO. |
| 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
| Stage 2 |
Parent/Carer Invited to a Meeting with EWO and Attendance Lead: Penalty Notice (PN) procedure explained Targets set and timeframe agreed Letter sent outlining the agreements made Attendance/punctuality monitored within the agreed timeframe. |
Home Visit 2 members of staff should carry out a home visit. |
Referral to EWO Evidence and paperwork completed by Attendance Lead. Letter sent to inform the parent/carer of the referral and that they may be issued a PN. If the student has safeguarding involvement, school must seek written support for this action. If support is not given school should seek the advice of the EWS |
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| 7 | 8 | |||
| Stage 3 |
Penalty Notice Issued by EWS. |
Non-Payment Attendance Lead completes witness statement and all evidence sent to the EWS. |
| Good Attendance and Punctuality Procedures and Rewards |
Weekly Attendance Reward: weekly raffle in assembly Punctuality, £5 raffle reward - a student’s name goes in the raffle each day they arrive to school on time. 100% Attendance and Punctuality, £10 raffle reward – a student goes in the raffle if they arrive on time, every day. |
Termly Rewards:
End of Term Trip: All students with over 90% attendance plus; The most improved student from baseline
End of Term Raffle: All students who meet their attendance target |
Letter Sent to Parents/ Carers praising good attendance |
| Staged Approach to Absence |
Day 1 Phone call to parent/carer. Supportive, but emphatic, persistent and consistent, e.g. I’m sorry to hear that but I’m really concerned as they have had x days off already this half term etc. When do you think they will be well enough to be back in school? We have medicine in school if you give permission for us to provide. |
Day 2 Repeat key messages from Day 1 I’m sorry to hear they are still not well but I’m really concerned as they have had x days of this half term Will they be well enough tomorrow, if not that will be 3 days? You may want to think about GP, A&E Have you given them any medicine? |
Day 3 That sounds worrying; they’ve now been off for 3 days. You might want to think about GP, A&E. Have you got medication, we can administer it in school?
Trigger for home visit. Suggest visit of school nurse, member of Early Help team. |
| Caddy Pick Up and Home Visits |
The Attendance Lead: Identifies students who are persistently absent. Draws up a timetable for the caddy pick up. Keeps a records and monitors the caddy pick up. Identifies multi-agency and school staff to carry out a home visit and keeps a record. |
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| EWO Involvement |
Half-termly meeting with EWO & Attendance Lead. EWO checks attendance actions and agrees next steps. Follow up monitoring period. Joint meeting with parent/carer, EWO and Attendance Lead. Statutory action as required. |
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| School Environment |
Whole school attendance notice board. Attendance display boards in each class. RAG and attendance thermometer displays. Student weekly tracking sheets are kept in student folders. |
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| Multi Agency Involvement |
Attendance discussed at MARM. Consider referral for Early Help involvement if attendance is a concern. Agree multi-agency support for caddy pick up for identified students. Agree joint visits with school staff to the home, as appropriate. Concerns re absence of students meeting statutory safeguarding thresholds must be passed on to SW. Carry out specific pieces of work on attendance with individual students and families following a referral. Collate community support that is available to support good health e.g. food banks, medicines etc. |
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