Attendance

HAVEN HIGH ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY EXPECTATIONS

WHAT IS EXPECTED ATTENDANCE AND WHY IT MATTERS

0 days off 100% Present More likely to have positive friendships - a protective factor for mental health and wellbeing	WHAT IS EXPECTED ATTENDANCE AND WHY IT MATTERS
	1½ days or less off school in a half term for any reason Almost TWICE as likely to achieve grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSEs
		2 or 3 days off school in a half term for any reason Miss out on £750 in lifetime earnings for each extra day of absence
			3½ to 5½ days off school in a half term for any reason Earn an average £10,000 less by aged 28
				6 or more days off in a half term for any reason 60% less likely to be employed by 28
Excellent Attendance	Expected Absence	At Risk of Persistent Absence	Persistent Absence	At Risk of Severe Absence

ATTENDANCE EXPECTATIONS AT HAVEN HIGH

Expected attendance means having no more than 1½ days off school each half term

Expected attendance means:

no more than 1½ days off school in a half term
no more than 9 days off school over the full year, or
being present in school for 4 full weeks for every 1 day off school
being off school for less than 5% of school days

REPORTING ABSENCES AT HAVEN HIGH
	Contact us before 08.45 every day your child is absent	Text message: The MyEd app includes the facility to automatically translate and allowed twoway texting Email: attendance@havenhigh.net Telephone: 01205 311979

PUNCTUALITY EXPECTATIONS AT HAVEN HIGH
08.00	FREE breakfast club opens in the school canteen
08.15	Gates open at The Blue Line, where students are met by pastoral staff
08.40	Gates close. Students arriving after this time must enter via the Front Office.
08.45	Students should be in their first lesson classroom and ready to start working
09.15	Registers close. If arriving after this time, students will get an unauthorised absence mark

MEET THE ATTENDANCE TEAM AT HAVEN HIGH

CONTACT: Attendance@havenhigh.net

Attendance Lead:

Attendance Manager:

Abigail.Parker@havenhigh.net

Caroline.Nixon@havenhigh.net

Education Welfare Officers:

Attendance Administrators:

Year 7:

Year 8 & Year 10:

Year 9 & Year 11:

Lukus.Burton@havenhigh.net

Rebecca.Howlett@havenhigh.net

Vikki.Howard@havenhigh.net

Jessica.Gallacher@havenhigh.net

Helen.Bates@havenhigh.net

Annabel.Rose@havenhigh.net

UNDER THE WEATHER FORM

WHEN YOUR CHILD DOESN’T FEEL 100% BUT HAS COME TO SCHOOL

Under The

Weather Form:

We understand that children may sometimes feel unwell but are still able to attend school even though they are not feeling great.

The Under the Weather Form is for parents and carers to give school information about how your child is feeling, so that we can keep an eye on them in school.

Under the Weather Form: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/w50xmkqQuK

Our Pastoral, SEND and First Aid teams can often support your child’s physical and emotional needs in school. If your child has any of the following, send them to school and use the Under the Weather Form to let us know so that we can work with you to keep an eye on them during the school day.

Your child should attend school with minor illnesses, such as:

Runny nose or colds
Coughs or sore throats
Headaches and migraines
Nausea or feeling sick
Stomachache or non-contagious soft stools
Cold sores or conjunctivitis
Period pains
Injuries that could be catered for in school

Your child should attend school with emotional struggles, such as:

Low mood or feeling down
Anxiety or worry
Feeling tired
Not slept well or refusing to get up
Friendship issues or fall-outs
Bullying issues or worries others will be unkind or exclude your child
Worry about a past incident

MEDICAL EVIDENCE FOR PERSISTENT OR RECURRING ILLNESS ABSENCE

Children should come to school if they have a minor illness. Medical evidence may be requested for persistent, recurring illness absences to ensure we are supporting your child in the right way.

We expect that parents/carers will seek medical advice or attention if their child’s absences are persistent, recurring or above expected levels, this means when there are:

3 or more consecutive days of illness absence
2 or more separate periods of absences in a half term

Medical evidence does not require a doctor’s note. Acceptable forms of evidence include:

Appointment confirmations (text message, email, or letter) showing your child’s name and date
Copies of prescriptions or medication labels with your child’s name and date
Hospital or medical letters which provide medical explanations for current absences.
A screenshot or print out of your child’s NHS patient summary from the NHS app. Information on accessing an NHS patient summary from the NHS app can be found at: https://www.nhs.uk/nhsservices/gps/view-your-gp-health-record/

NOT REASONS TO BE ABSENT FROM SCHOOL ABSENCES MAY BE UNAUTHORISED FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS
What will be counted as an unauthorised absence?	What can be done to help in the situation?
Minor illness that do not require medical attention, such as: Runny nose or colds Coughs or sore throats Headaches and migraines Nausea or feeling sick Stomach ache or loose stools not shown to be contagious Cold sores or conjunctivitis Period pains Physical injuries that could be catered for in school	Let school know your child is not feeling 100% on the Under The Weather form: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/w50xmkqQuK and we will keep an eye on them in school Give them doses of recommended medicine before school. If your child has been diagnosed with an illness or condition by your GP, please let school know. If your child feels unwell in school, they should report to Front Office and a trained First Aider can support them
Medical Appointments (doctors, dentist, hospital etc.) that are: Unevidenced. Where the child is unnecessarily absent for a full day, only part of the day will be authorised Overseas appointments that could have taken place in the UK. Routine opticians’ appointments	Planned appointments should be made after school or in the holidays, if possible, or booked late afternoon or early morning to avoid disruption to your child’s learning. Send in a screenshot of the appointment letter, email or text as evidence of the appointment, as long as your child’s name and the date/time of the appointment is included. Students should attend school before and after appointments unless there is good reason not to. Optician appointments can be easily booked outside of school
Your child refuses to attend school	Call your Year Team and we can arrange some Family Support to help you manage your child’s behaviour in your home. If your child is experiencing friendship issues, or is worried about a past incident, send them to school and let us know. We can best support your child when they are in school.
Low mood or anxiety	Call your Year Team immediately and we can offer support. Fill in the Under The Weather form so we can monitor and support in school: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/w50xmkqQuK If your GP, or other medical professional, has expressed concerns about your child’s mental health please contact school for support
Not sleeping well or feeling tired	Inform the school that your child is tired using the Under The Weather form: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/w50xmkqQuK and we can monitor and support in school.
Arriving to school after the register has closed (U code)	Registers close at 09.15 and arriving after this time is an unauthorised absence.
You or your child is unhappy with something at school	Parents can raise a concern by following the process on the school website. Being unhappy with the school does not provide a basis for an authorised absence from school
Holidays or visiting family	Please always book holidays or visits to family overseas during the school holidays only.
Unevidenced and unagreed sporting/musical activities	All external sporting/music activities must be evidenced and agreed by the Headteacher in advance. Complete the Leave of Absence Request form
Uniform	School can provide uniform loans if your child has lost or damaged an item of uniform, until you are able to purchase a replacement.
Physical injuries that could be catered for in school	If your child has a physical injury, contact school for support on how they can attend.
No communication from a parent/carer	Parents and carers must contact school every day their child is absent and explain the reason for their child’s absence. For family emergencies, please ensure you contact us about your situation and we will offer support.

ABSENCE DUE TO MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS

No appointments will be authorised unless evidence of the appointment is provided

Planned appointments should be made after school or in the holidays, if possible. If appointments are in school time parents should minimise disruption and book late afternoon or early morning appointments.

Students are expected to attend school before and after appointment times. Absences either side of the appointment will be unauthorised unless there is good reason for the child not being in school.

Overseas medical appointments will not be authorised unless evidence is provided to show why this medical treatment could not have taken place in the UK, to avoid disruption to your child’s education

LEAVE OF ABSENCE AND HOLIDAYS

The Leave of Absence Request Form must be completed if the parent is requesting authorised time off school for any reason. The form is available on the school website:

https://www.havenhighacademy.net/attachments/download.asp?file=267&type=pdf

All leave will be unauthorised unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Requests for exceptional circumstances must be made at least 20 school days before the leave begins using the Leave of Absence Request Form, or as soon as possible before the leave begins.

What are not exceptional circumstances:

Family holidays.
Visits to see family.
Unevidenced or unagreed sporting events, musical activities or appointments.

OVERSEAS VISITS TO HOME COUNTRIES

Family events (for example weddings or funerals) will only be authorised for immediate family, and the authorisation will be for the day of the event, plus a day either side for travelling only.

Where family members overseas are ill, parents are expected to plan for their child to stay in the UK and continue coming to school while parents travel overseas to care for family members.

ATTENDANCE SUPPORT AT HAVEN HIGH

We operate a Support-First approach to attendance at Haven High. To guarantee a comprehensive approach to attendance, Haven High implements a multi-levelled system of support which involves different levels of intervention and support, with roles for wider pastoral staff, form tutors, teachers, the school, children, parents, and external agencies – including the Local Authority.

Below is a small selection of the types of support available if your child is struggling to attend school

EDUCATION WELFARE OFFICER: You and your child have a dedicated Education Welfare Officer who will problem-solve any attendance issues and liaise with other professionals to support improved attendance.

FREE BREAKFAST CLUB: Your child is offered access to a free breakfast club from 08.00 until 08.40 every day, to encourage arriving at school on time and to provide a free of charge nutritional breakfast.

DAILY READINESS CHECK-INS: Your child is met every morning by staff in their pastoral team when arriving between 08.15 and 08.40, where staff check for readiness to learn. Unform loans are offered before the day begins if needed, staff provide free stationary so that your child is always ready to learn. Wellbeing staff are available for check-ins and chats as needed, to avoid problems or issues in the day.

SUPPORT SPACE: Your child has access to support space if needing pastoral or emotional support while in school, through access to a Year Hub base, the Learning Support Hub and Student Support.

HOMEWORK CLUB: Your child is encouraged to catch-up with work missed when absent by completing work on ClassCharts and Sparx. Your child can attend our daily Homework Club, which gives access to computers and is staffed by Learning Support.

WELLBEING CHECK-INS: Your child sees their form tutor daily every day and additionally your child has access to comprehensive pastoral support in their Year Teams, with multiple professionals including a Pastoral Lead for wellbeing and emotional support and a Behaviour Mentor for social and behavioural support.

PA FORM GROUP: To further support catch up and rebuild their attendance, our lowest attending students are allocated a place in a specialist Form Group, which has the aim of building positive routines around attendance and punctuality, supporting catch-up and encouragement their improvements.

HARDSHIP SUPPORT: Poverty-proofing initiatives which include free uniform when needed, free stationary packs and discrete classroom equipment banks are available. Cashless and funded breakfast and lunches in the school canteen reduce stigma or embarrassment when receiving Free School Meals.

ACHIEVABLE ATTENDANCE REWARDS: To promote small, positive changes in attendance, your child will be rewarded every time they achieve 100% attendance for the previous week. Additional 100% attendance or improved attendance rewards have prizes that focus on rewarding the whole family not just the child

SAFE@HAVENHIGH: The Year Team at Haven High can offer pupils, parents and their family resources, advice, signposting and referrals that promote children’s wellbeing and support parents. The Safe@HavenHIgh section of the school website has lots of useful information.

TOGETHERNESS PARENTING SUPPORT is available online and free to parents and carers in Lincolnshire. There are a wide range of courses that can be accessed through the website.

FAMILY HUBS and CHILDREN’S CENTRES give parents and families access local support from Lincolnshire County Council. More information is available on the LCC website.

HERE4YOU: Children’s Mental Health Support can be accessed by calling the Here4You Line on 0800 234 6342 or completing the online form. Or talk to your Pastoral Lead who can arrange a referral.

HELPING YOU UNDERSTAND ATTENDANCE FINES

Penalty notice fines will be considered when a school-aged child has: 10 SESSIONS OF UNAUTHORISED ABSENCE IN 10 SCHOOL WEEKS One session = half a day, 10 sessions = 5 full days. Applies to term-time leave, or unauthorised absences, or a combination, and can be consecutive or not.

1	FIRST OFFENCE £80 per parent, per child, if paid within 0-21 days. £160 per parent, per child, if paid within 22-28 days. If npaid after 28 days, the case will progress directly to Magistrates’ Court, see below.

2	SECOND OFFENCE WITHIN 3 YEARS £160 per parent, per child, if paid within 0-28 days. No option to pay a redced amount if paid early If npaid after 28 days, the case will progress directly to Magistrates’ Court, see below.

3	THIRD OFFENCE WITHIN 3 YEARS The case will be presented to the Magistrates’ Cort for legal prosecution. Magistrates can isse fines up to £2500 per parent, per child. Cases fond guilty in Magistrates’ Court can show on a parents future DBS certificate, due to failure to safeguard a child’s education.

A Penalty Notice can be issued under the following legislation: Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 Section 444 of the Education Act   Section 444B of the Education Act Under Section 103 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, a Penalty Notice can also be issued if your child is seen in a public place within the first 5 days of a suspension or exclusion from their school.