Attendance

Redbridge Community School are monitoring students closely whose attendance is falling and will contact you if your child’s attendance does not improve. As a parent/carer you are committing an offence if you fail to ensure that your child attends the School regularly and punctually, even if they are missing the School without your knowledge. It is important that parents/carers monitor single day’s absence, as these days soon add up to weeks. At Redbridge Community School we reward pupils who attend the School each day and whose attendance is improving. Students are also rewarded for good punctuality. If you are concerned about this ‘Focus on Attendance’, there are important steps that you can take:

• Ensure your child attends every day, on time, equipped and ready to learn. The school day begins at 8.40am and students should be in the building by 8.35am. Students arriving after 9am may be marked absent and will require an explanatory note or the absence will remain unauthorised.
• Ensure the School has up-to-date addresses and telephone numbers. We will contact you if your child is absent and you have not contacted the School. This ensures that the absence is quickly identified.
• If there is a designated time frame for absence please notify the school of a start and end date, providing the accompanying medical evidence.
• If your child is ill, contact the School on the first day of absence and any additional days subsequent to this.
• If you wish to check that your child has arrived at the School contact the School Attendance Officer, Wendy Proud, who can inform you if your child has been registered.
• If no contact is received regarding the absence, it is recorded as un-authorised. Ultimately the School is responsible for deciding if the absence is acceptable or not. Only genuine absence will be authorised. You will be asked to provide medical certificates if your child has a poor attendance record.
• Ensure that medical appointments are made outside of the School time.
• Avoid trivial absences such as, ‘buying new shoes’. This would not be accepted as a reasonable absence. Holidays should not be taken in the School time. Any Leave of Absence can only be agreed by the Head Teacher and only agreed where there are exceptional circumstances.
• Respond to letters or telephone calls regarding attendance and punctuality.
• Contact your child’s form tutor if you are experiencing difficulty in getting your child into the School.

Thank you for working in partnership with us to achieve the highest possible levels of attendance and punctuality at Redbridge Community School.