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At Tarleton Academy we are committed to providing the highest quality education possible for all of our Students building a healthy learning community in which both pupils and staff can develop to their full potential. The Student Services Team work tirelessly with students, staff and families to ensure that nothing gets in the way of student's learning.

Please contact Miss Webster (Pastoral & Behaviour Manager - Transition & Year 7), Mrs L Seddon (Pastoral & Behaviour Manager - Years 8 & 9), Mrs J O'Shaughnessy (Pastoral & Behaviour Manager - Years 10 & 11) or one of the House Progress Leaders (Academic support) on 01772 812644 if you have any questions, queries or problems and they will endeavour to support you and your child.

The Tarleton Academy Attendance Policy can be found here

The importance of maintaining excellent attendance:

Tarleton Academy is a successful school and promotes strong partnerships with parents in encouraging 100% attendance and punctuality for all students.  We aim for an environment which enables and encourages all members of the community to reach out for excellence.

Education is the foundation for future academic success. If Students are absent from school, they miss out on learning the fundamental skills that will set them up for success in the later years. Attending school every day and arriving on time is the single most important part of your child’s education. Missing out on education has a significant effect on students’ life opportunities.  All research shows that students who attend well, are more likely to achieve. Each hour in school is a valuable learning experience that cannot be recovered. Therefore, everyone associated with the school – students, parents, all teaching, support staff and external agencies must do all in their power to ensure that excellent attendance and punctuality remain an integral part of the school’s work.

Children should be at the school, on time, every day that the school is open unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable. Missing out on lessons leaves children vulnerable to falling behind.

Absence

If your child is unable to attend school, for whatever reason, please record their absence with a reason on Class Charts, as detailed here.

If your child is absent from school and you do not report it, the Attendance Officer will carry out a first day absence procedure.  This will involve:

• Contacting you by telephone.
• Contacting you by letter.
• If necessary, carrying out a home visit.

If you do not provide a reason or we consider the reason for the absence to be unacceptable e.g. shopping, birthdays or incorrect uniform, it will be unauthorised. Unauthorised absences could result in parents being issued with a Penalty Notice (PN).   We prefer it if Penalty Notices are rarely issued as we aim to work with parents to support students in maximising their attendance. All students are expected to maintain 100% attendance throughout the school year.

Punctuality

Poor punctuality is not acceptable. Late arriving students disrupt lessons. The school day starts at 8.45 am and we expect all students to be moving to their classroom at that time. Registers are marked at 8.50am. Students not in school by 8.45am will receive a late mark. At 9.30 am the registers will be closed. In accordance with the Regulations, attendance after registration has closed will registered in school but will receive an unauthorised absence mark. This may mean that you could face the possibility of a Penalty Notice if the problem persists.

Persistent Absenteeism (PA)

Here at Tarleton we categorise ‘good ‘attendance as 98% or above. We monitor all absence thoroughly. All students are tracked and monitored carefully through our attendance systems, we also combine this with academic mentoring as absence affects attainment and progress levels. A student is categorised as a ‘persistent absentee’ (PA) when they miss 10% or more schooling across the school year for whatever reason. Absence at this level is doing considerable damage and we need parents’ fullest support and co-operation to tackle this. Failure to ensure your child attends school could result in a referral for legal intervention.

Leave of absence during term time

In line with the national changes in 2013, which removed the authority from a Headteacher to authorise leave during term time for holidays, we will not authorise any term time leave of absences for holidays. All requests for leave of absence will be considered on an individual basis without bias on receipt of a leave of absence request form which can be collected from the main office or downloaded from our website.

It is important that you understand that leave in term time will not be agreed at any time unless circumstances surrounding the request can be evidenced, by parents, to be exceptional. DfE guidance says the fundamental principles for defining ‘exceptional’ are rare, significant, unavoidable and short. We strongly urge parents to avoid booking holidays during term time.  If unauthorised leave is taken a request will be made for a Penalty Notice to be issued.

A Penalty Notice will be requested for each parent who fails to ensure their child attends school. Penalty Notices are £80 if paid within 21 days otherwise rising to £160 if paid after the 21 days but within 28 days. Parents can be prosecuted if payment is not received within 28 days.

 

Under existing legislation, parents/carers commit an offence if their son/daughter fails to attend school, and the absences are classed as unauthorised. Such cases may result in a prosecution under Section 444 of the Education Act, 1996.