Attendance
At Chosen Hill School we believe that excellent attendance and punctuality are fundamental in ensuring maximum progress and that the students grow up with the correct work ethos for their future lives.
Our goal this year is to ensure that every student attends school regularly. This means he or she attends school regularly and at the very least achieves the school target of 96% attendance or above.
Clearly going to school regularly matters!
Attending school has a huge impact on a student’s academic success. Even as children grow older and more independent, families play a key role in making sure students get to school safely every day and understand why attendance is so important for success in school and in life.
We realise some absences are unavoidable due to health problems or other circumstances. But, we also know that when students miss too much school — regardless of the reason – it can cause them to fall behind academically.
There are strong links between poor attendance and poor attainment. A child who has 90% attendance misses the equivalent of 1 whole month of education each year which over the course of their school life equates to 1 whole year of education missed. This can equate to the equivalent of 1 whole GCSE grade drop.=
Your child is less likely to succeed if he or she is persistently absent—which means missing 19 or more days over the course of an entire school year. Absences can add up quickly. A child is persistently absent if he or she misses just two days every month!!
Overview of School Attendance
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Come to school every day unless you are really too ill to come in
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Encourage your parents/carers not to book holidays in term time
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Talk to your parents/carers about any problems you may be having at school
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Contact us if you are concerned about anything: we are here to help
What difference does one day make?
“Simon is in Year 9. His attendance rate is always around 90%. He thinks this is pretty good!”
Time lost:
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Over 1 year: 4 weeks
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Over 5 years: Half a year
The law on Attendance
When can you/your child miss school?
You can only allow your child to miss school if either:
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they’re too ill to go in
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you’ve got advance permission from the school
Holidays in term time
You have to get permission from the head teacher if you want to take your child out of school during term time.
You can only do this if:
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you make an application to the head teacher in advance (as a parent the child normally lives with)
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there are exceptional circumstances
It’s up to the head teacher how many days your child can be away from school if leave is granted.
You can be fined for taking your child on holiday during term time without the school’s permission.