Attendance

At Castledyke we aim to maximise our attendance rates by operating an attendance policy within which Governors, Staff, Pupils, Parents and the Education Welfare Service can work together in a fruitful partnership. The school will monitor attendance and ensure that there is early intervention if a problem is identified, so that appropriate support can be given by those concerned.

As with good behaviour and academic success, regular attendance will be seen as an achievement in its own right and recognised as such by the school. The attendance policy is based upon the premise of equal opportunities for all within the school community.

Successfully treating the root causes of absence and removing barriers to attendance, at home, in school or more broadly requires schools and local partners to work collaboratively with, not against families. All partners should work together to:

Monitor

Rigorously use attendance data to identify patterns of poor attendance (at individual and cohort level) as soon as possible so all parties can work together to resolve them before they become entrenched.

Expect

Aspire to high standards of attendance from all pupils and parents and build a culture where all can, and want to, be in school and ready to learn by prioritising attendance improvement across the school.

Listen and Understand

When a pattern is spotted, discuss with pupils and parents to listen to understand barriers to attendance and agree how all partners can work together to resolve them.

Facilitate Support

Remove barriers in school and help pupils and parents to access the support they need to overcome the barriers outside of school. This might include an early help or whole family plan where absence is a symptom of wider issues.

Formalise Support

Where absence persists and voluntary support is not working or not being engaged with, partners should work together to explain the consequences clearly and ensure support is also in place to enable families to respond. Depending on the circumstances this may include formalising support through a parenting contract or education supervision order.

Enforce

Where all other avenues have been exhausted and support is not working or not being engaged with, enforce attendance through statutory intervention or prosecution to protect the pupil’s right to an education.

Attendance grading at last Ofsted – 1 Outstanding.