Attendance

Sixth Form arrangements: Students will be registered in lessons and must attend tutor time on the mornings they have registration.  On all days, students must sign in using their lanyard as they enter the school building.  All students must attend tutor time three mornings per week and General Studies assembly once a week.  Where students have study periods, they may study at home with parental permission.  This privilege will however be withdrawn if students fail to complete home learning or if there are other concerns about their attendance, progress or effort. Students must be available to be in school if required at any point during school hours.  They must under no circumstances undertake paid work at that time.  Students who undertake paid work during school hours cannot be classed as full-time students and may not remain on roll.  Students or parents should contact the attendance team to notify a student’s absence, including any medical appointments, in advance. 

Leave of absence for all other events should be requested in the same way as for years 7-11. All students in the Sixth Form must have a minimum number of timetabled hours per week. The minimum expected attendance figure is 96% and excellent punctuality is expected.

The following interventions are used to improve and monitor sixth form attendance.

96%-100% attendance      Recognition in assemblies and Celebration assemblies.

90%-95% attendance        Form tutor conversation – if consistent, phone call home

Below 90%                        Parents meeting with the Head of Year/Head of Sixth Form

Where a student has poor attendance, this will be discussed with the student and the parent/carer. Steps are taken to improve attendance, such as attendance and punctuality reports. If attendance does not improve and falls below 80%, a student may be withdrawn from their programme of study or may be asked to pay for the exam entry. This would be a last resort and by working with students and parents/carers the school expects that attendance can be improved. Year 12 and 13 students leaving the site at break or lunchtime must sign out and sign back in.  Where students do not meet these requirements, they may no longer stay on roll.  Poor attendance as a result of ongoing illness will be treated on a case-by-case basis with the aim of ensuring the best outcomes for the student.  A doctor’s note may be required to authorise any absences of over 5 days or repeated short-term absences due to illness.