At Jacobstow Community Academy, we recognise that good attendance is essential at all ages and stages. It promotes a positive learning ethos and prepares us for our futures. In school, we recognise also the importance of being on time so remind children about why we need to be punctual and inform parents regularly of the timings of the day and what children need to do if they arrive to school late. As and where needed, we will work with individual children and families to discuss their absences and punctuality, seeking advice from external support when necessary, for example a Family Support Worker to support the family with routines etc. A display board in school will recognise the current whole school attendance figure, as well as our class attendance information.
The government expectation of attendance is 95%. As a school, in recognition of the importance we put on to attendance, we aim to achieve a whole school target of at least 96%.
If a child has specific medical needs which impact upon their ability to attend school at times due to different appointments or treatments, then a separate plan may be put in place in consultation with the parents and our EWO. In this instance, a child’s attendance figure may then take into account the absence for these necessary appointments and their usual school attendance.
All absences must be reported to school staff so it can be recorded. Anything which is not recorded and explained will be marked as unauthorised. At times, following our Attendance Policy we are able to sanction term time absences for certain necessary or exceptional circumstances. Parents are asked to request this attendance in advance using our Leave of Absence request form and if this is/was not possible, then to retrospectively complete a form for our records. This form will be completed by the headteacher and returned to you with the reasons for why the absence has or has not been authorised. It will also indicate what your child’s current attendance figure is.
(NB:Please remember whenever reading attendance data that sessions are often reported and not days, so it may say 10 absences – referring to sessions – which is 5 days, not 10 days. )
Please read our Attendance policy below for further information.
Miss Garside, Mrs Ellerington and Mrs Maloney form our Attendance Team. They meet every fortnight to discuss the attendance data of the school and look specifically at groupings of children as well as following up on any concerns or significant changes since the last fortnightly attendance meeting.