Dear Parent/Carer
I hope you are all well and had a great summer break?
It has been so lovely to welcome our students back to South Craven this week and I have to say that students have returned with fantastic attitudes and with big smiles on their faces (mostly!). I also want to thank parents for your support with the tweaks to our school uniform expectations. The vast majority of our students arrived on day one wearing the correct uniform and looking very smart indeed.
Attendance - our big push! Working together for a great year ahead
The main reason I am writing to you today, is to share important updates on attendance and ask for your support. As all parents know, regular school attendance is vital for your child’s academic progress, social growth and future successes.
Last year, our overall school attendance dropped below national average for the first time in many years. This was both our overall attendance and persistent absence, which is the number of students who have attendance below 90%. As a school, we understand that illness and difficult circumstances occur in the lives of young people, but a decline in attendance has a direct impact on student progress, confidence and social development. For example, in our Year 11 GCSE results last year, students with attendance below 90% achieved more than 2 grades lower on average then students with attendance above 90%. Therefore, this year we are launching a major school drive to reverse this trend and get things back on track.
Why attendance matters
- Academic progress - every single day counts! Lessons are taught in careful, planned sequences. When a child misses school, they miss fundamental steps, creating gaps in learning that are hard to fill.
- Social Development - school is much more than just academic work. Being in school allows children to build friendships, develop confidence and develop South Craven Learner skills like resilience, curiosity and creativity.
- Building good habits - arriving on time every day teaches routines, responsibility and discipline that support your child as they move towards the world of higher education and employment.
Understanding the numbers
An attendance level of 90% may sound good, but in school terms, it means your child misses one day of school every two weeks and that equates to 95 hours of lost learning every school year. That amount of work is very difficult for students to make up. In order to support parents to ensure students attend school, I have attached a link bellow to the NHS document entitled ‘Is my child too ill for school’. It is a great guide to help parents decide if their child should be kept off school or not if they are unwell.
The attendance bands diagram attached to this email, shows the attendance bands that your child will be placed into this year, depending on their level of attendance. The diagram clearly shows the number of learning days and hours that will be lost at each percentage.
We will inform your child what attendance band they are in every week via email; parents will also be included in this email. Coaches will spend time each week praising and reflecting with students about attendance levels and supporting them with any issues students may be having that are affecting their attendance.
As you can see from the attached document, we are aiming for 97% or above attendance for all our students and will be sure to reward and praise all students who achieve this. If a student’s attendance drops into the lower bands, we will be in touch with you as parents to let you know and offer support to ensure attendance increases. Full details of the support we will offer and action we can take is in our new attendance policy, which will be published on our website early next week.
Our attendance routines and procedures
- School starts at 8:25am. All students should be in their coaching sessions at this time.
- If your child is absent, please call the attendance office, as early as possible, on 01535 632861 and select option 1.
Please ensure you tell us:
- Your child’s full name;
- Your child’s Coaching group;
- Your parental responsibility and;
- The reason for the absences
3. If we have not received a message from you, our Attendance team will contact you in the morning and will follow up all absences when attendance falls below 90%.
4. When a student’s attendance falls below 90% (Band 3) they will be classed as a persistent absentee and parents will receive a letter to ask if the school can support them in ensuring attendance returns to above 90%. Parents will also be asked to submit medical evidence if their child is absent.
5. Students in attendance band 3 or below will receive praise and reward when they improve their attendance, but the school will also work with parents to support improved attendance – interventions could include setting up an attendance contract, home visits, in school mentoring, parental meetings or external agency support
I hope all these procedures and routines are clear but please let me know if you have any questions about
attendance at any time.
We all know that every day that your child spends in our school is an investment into their future success. If we
now work together to ensure they are here as much as is possible, I know our attendance will improve and our
students will achieve more success.
Thank you so much for your support.
Martyn Hill
Headteacher
