Attendance

Reporting an absence

To report a child's absence please contact us by the following methods:

Direct telephone number - 0113 386 9122

Email - attendance@pudseygrammar.co.uk 

Attendance Team Attendance Lead - Mrs Bennett Attendance Liaison Officer - Mrs Clayton Attendance Liaison Officer - Mrs Newton

Any correspondence in regards to absence from school must be communicated with the Attendance Team.

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Medical Absence

From time to time children do become unwell and it is not always necessary to seek medical advice. This will be considered on an individual basis. Wherever possible if medical evidence is provided, this can help to authorise absence to avoid attendance monitoring.

In instances of long-term or repeated absences for the same reason, seeking medical evidence may be appropriate to assist in assessing whether the child requires additional support to help them attend more regularly, and whether the illness is likely to prevent the child from attending for extended periods.

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What can you do?

• Make medical appointments outside of school hours and, where possible, please show any appointment confirmations to the attendance team.
• Keep absences to an absolute minimum - if you are uncertain if your child is unwell, bring them in. We will contact you if they are too ill to be in school.
• Only book holidays when school is closed.
• Positive parental support and engagement with school can have a significant impact on a child's attendance.
• Read our school attendance policy for more information.

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Useful Links

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yQ3c0Aj5kG-f6OaUYSw-xc3UanC_cLjl/view?usp=drive_link

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Exceptional Circumstances Form / Holiday

Parents / Carers are expected to only request a leave of absence in Exception Circumstances, and to do so in advance. The requests will be reviewed on a case by case basis and it is at the school's digression as to whether to absence will be authorised. Again, unauthorised absence may trigger monitoring.

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Attendance Stages The DfE considers persistent absence to be between 50-90%. Absence below 50% is considered severe. The attendance team will automatically monitor any attendance below 90%. No unexplained absences will be authorised by school. Absence of 5 or more days will not be authorised without supporting evidence. Registers are checked daily and the attendance team will follow up with absentees. To ensure all children are safe, home visits and welfare checks will be carried out when a child is absent in the following circumstances: - Parents / Carers cannot be contacted - Absence of 5 or more days - School / Local Authority are monitoring attendance.

Punctuality School doors open at 8:20am and students are expected to be present in Form Time by 8:30am. After this time the only way to get into the school building is via reception. If students attend after this time, a late to school incident will be logged. On the 3rd incident logged, this will trigger a 60 minute detention. If your child is going to be late, please contact the attendance team on the same day with the reason for the lateness. If a reason is received at a later date, the incident will remain. If your child is consistently late to school, an attendance meeting will be arranged. Arriving after 9:20am when registers have officially closed will result in an absent mark, which will affect attendance and may lead to absence monitoring.

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The importance of attendance

At Pudsey Grammar school, we believe that every lesson is an important step in building a successful future. Research shows that good attendance underpins not just academic success but also friendships and enjoyment of school. The link between attendance and academic outcomes is clear. We view good attendance as being above 97%.

100% attendance students are more than three times as likely to get grade 5s in English and Maths than people with 85 - 90% attendance.

100% attendance students are more than twice as likely to achieve 5+ GCSEs at grades 5 and above including English and mathematics than pupils with 85% attendance of KS4 lessons.

Even at 80% and 90% attendance, students miss a significant number of lessons which significantly impacts on their ability to access the curriculum.

We regularly speak to students about the importance of attendance in assembly and in form time and try to address any barriers to attendance through conversations with students and parents. 

Irregular patterns of attendance

We have discussed with students the concept of ‘broken weeks’ of attendance and how they impact on students health and well being.  We looked at the impact of absences on one student across a half term.

In this case study, absences are highlighted in red. What may seem to parents and students as an absence of ‘the odd day here and there’ can have a significant impact on wellbeing, academic progress and friendships. In the example above:

• Lessons missed in week 1 mean that the student did not receive tuition in crucial topics in English and Maths.
• In week 2, the student missed lessons where students chose working groups in Art and PE - consequently, they were not able to work with their preferred friendship group in the following lessons.
• In week 4, the student missed an opportunity to excel in a team game in PE, therefore missing out on an enjoyable experience which would boost self esteem.
• Finally, in week 6 the student was worried about English and Maths assessments and was absent. This means assessments were taken at a later date when crucial information was not fresh in the memory.

The case study above makes it clear that ‘broken weeks’ are a significant barrier to achievement in, and enjoyment of, school.

Rewards are an important part of our structure at Pudsey Grammar School and we provide a range of both long and short term rewards across the school year. We regularly inform students and parents of our new rewards initiatives.

If you would like further information about attendance at Pudsey Grammar School, please contact the attendance team on attendance@pudseygrammar.co.uk or call the attendance team on 0113 386 9122.

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Exceptional Circumstances Request Form

Exceptional Circumstances Request Form

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Our latest attendance policy can be viewed on our school policies page by clicking here >