Attendance

We are committed to all our students having the best possible education and positive experiences during their time with us – making positive connections with their teachers, peers, subjects, through memorable experiences in school, trips and extra-curricular opportunities. To achieve this, we expect that students achieve at least 96% attendance every academic year.

There are a variety of reasons for students missing school. Some reasons are unavoidable, but we are committed to working with you to ensure that your child fully benefits from coming to school to form strong and lasting connections.

All absences have to be coded and then become part of your child's attendance record. Where a student is not in school and we don’t receive a reason, we have to mark this absence as unauthorised.

If your child is unable to attend school, please report the absence on the first day of absence, via our telephone no 01926 290646. You must continue to report each day of absence in the same way.

Please ensure you have the 'My Child At School (MCAS)' app installed and notifications enabled as we will communicate with you via the app if your child is not in school without a reason

Application Form for Leave of Absence- click here

Attendance and Holiday in Term Time

Attendance and Holiday in Term Time

Leave of absence in Term Time

New Government guidance came into effect September 2022 to ensure that children attend school regularly “so they get the most out of their school experience, including their attainment, wellbeing and wider life chances. Improving pupil attendance at school is everyone's business."

At Southam College we believe it is important that every child should be entitled to the same opportunities school offers including - educational benefits, social and emotional learning and feeling as part of the school community.

As a parent/ carer you are legally responsible for making sure your child/children attend school regularly.
It is important that you and your child/ children develop a positive attitude to school attendance and punctuality so that they do not miss out on the opportunities at school. These qualities of punctuality and reliability are also important in adult life.
Difficulties with attendance are disruptive for a child’s education. They cause a lack of continuity and progression in schoolwork and can establish patterns of behaviour which may lead to long-term truancy. Missing school prevents children from building essential learning blocks of skills and knowledge and prevents them from making educational links which can lead to poor progression and anxiety.
We want our students to feel safe in school and secure. Southam College, in partnership with Warwickshire Attendance Service (WAS) will have strict arrangements for the authorisation of absence taken during term time. Authorisation will only be granted in exceptional circumstances for religious or unique personal reasons, by the headteacher, on a case-by-case basis. In the absence of leave being granted and absence occurring, consideration will be given by WAS to impose a fine as detailed here:
https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/pupilnonattendance

Headteachers are no longer permitted to authorise absence for holidays taken during term time. They are only permitted to grant leave for exceptional circumstances. If you think you have exceptional circumstances, please talk to us without delay and before arrangements are entered into or money committed. If exceptional circumstances are accepted, the Headteacher and the School Governors will determine how much absence will be authorised.

What is good attendance?
We greatly appreciate parental support to reduce the total amount of days lost due to absence. We are committed to working in partnership with you to enable your child to reach their academic targets and to support their social development and for this to happen, we need to keep individual attendance as high as possible and we all need to play our part.

If a child achieves 80% attendance, this means that they have missed approximately 40 days of education over the academic year, averaging 1 day per week. If a child's attendance equates to 80% over their time in secondary school, they will miss more than a full year of education.
If a child achieves 90% attendance, most people would see this as a very high percentage. However, this still means students miss approximately 20 days of education, four weeks of lessons and missed opportunities to strengthen their sense of connection with their learning and peers.

Excellent attendance is 100% and good attendance is 96%.

If children are taken away for a two week family holiday every year and have an average number of days off for sickness and appointments, they will have missed the equivalent of a year off school by the time they are 16.

Evidence shows that children with low attendance are less likely to succeed academically and are more likely to be NEET (not in education, employment or training) when they leave school.

Attendance: Frequently Asked Questions

What do I do if my child is ill and cannot attend school?

On the first day of absence please contact the school office on 01926 812560
and leave a message if you are unable to speak to someone directly. If your child’s attendance drops below 95% we may ask for medical evidence and written notes to be provided on their return to school.

If your child has a chronic illness, persistent or recurring health issues, we appreciate absence from school may be unavoidable. Please make an appointment to see the attendance team in school or your child’s head of year to discuss how we can support your child. Please keep us updated by providing written evidence of medical appointments wherever possible

Sometimes my child is late. Is this ok?

Being on time to school is a legal requirement for school students.

If students are persistently late, they may miss vital information given in the mornings and may become confused or disengaged with their learning.

Students will be recorded as late and an explanation noted on the register. This will be monitored by the school and if it is persistent, parental meetings will be arranged.

Persistent, severe or unexplained lateness can be classed as unauthorised absence and may be referred to the Local Authority.

My child has a medical/dental appointment in school time. Should I re-book it in non-school time?

My family religion means my child needs to miss some days at school. What should I do?

I would like to take my child out of school during term time for a family holiday. Is that ok?

The Headteacher can only authorise absences in exceptional circumstances.

Leave is unlikely to be granted for the purposes of a family holiday. If the Headteacher grants a leave of absence, it will be for the Headteacher to determine the length of time a child can be away from school.

If you apply for holiday leave, please do so before booking to avoid disappointment.

Absence must be recorded as unauthorised if a leave of absence is not completed before the period of absence – this cannot be authorised retrospectively.

The government have provided the school with strict criteria which they must follow – guidelines relating to this are on the back of the application form.

Leave of absences which are unauthorised should not be taken. If they are, parents are committing an offence and, in some cases, may be subject to a Fixed Penalty Notice or prosecution.

What is an unauthorised absence?

An absence that is not explained by the parent or is not agreed by the school

Where attendance of a student falls below 95% and medical evidence is not provided to explain each absence or a written note from parent/carer is not received for each absence if medical evidence is not appropriate.

Persistent or severe levels of absence will be referred to the Attendance, Compliance and Enforcement (ACE) Services – renamed to Warwickshire Attendance Service (WAS) in January 2019. Contact will be made with families by this service to find out why absence is high and will offer support to help with issues that are preventing full attendance.

If absences and/or lateness persists, WAS may enforce attendance through legal interventions (Fixed Penalty Notice and/or prosecution). In extreme circumstances, this may result in a Parenting Order or imprisonment.

What do I do if my child does not want to attend school?

Try to find out the reason they do not want to attend school.
Contact the school by emailing/calling your child’s tutor, pastoral leader or one of the attendance team to discuss any issues we may be able to help with.
Try to establish routines so a calm environment is maintained in the morning that may help to tackle anxieties your child is feeling.
Praise your child for their efforts in school.

What is good attendance?

Is my child too ill for school? (NHS Guidelines)

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

Is my child too ill for school?

It can be tricky deciding whether or not to keep your child off school, nursery or playgroup when they're unwell.

There are government guidelines for schools and nurseries about managing specific infectious diseases at GOV.UK. These say when children should be kept off school and when they shouldn't.

If you do keep your child at home, it's important to phone the school or nursery on the first day. Let them know that your child won't be in and give them the reason.

If your child is well enough to go to school but has an infection that could be passed on, such as a cold sore or head lice, let their teacher know.

Other illnesses

Follow this advice for other illnesses:

Coughs and colds

It's fine to send your child to school with a minor cough or common cold. But if they have a fever, keep them off school until the fever goes.

Encourage your child to throw away any used tissues and to wash their hands regularly.

High temperature

If your child has a high temperature, keep them off school until it goes away.

Chickenpox

If your child has chickenpox, keep them off school until all the spots have crusted over.

This is usually about 5 days after the spots first appeared.

Cold sores

There's no need to keep your child off school if they have a cold sore.

Encourage them not to touch the blister or kiss anyone while they have the cold sore, or to share things like cups and towels.

Conjunctivitis

You don't need to keep your child away from school if they have conjunctivitis.

Do get advice from your pharmacist. Encourage your child not to rub their eyes and to wash their hands regularly.

COVID-19

If your child has mild symptoms, such as a runny nose, sore throat, or slight cough, and feels well enough, they can go to school.

Your child should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if they have symptoms of COVID-19 and they either:

have a high temperature
do not feel well enough to go to school or do their normal activities

What to do if your child has tested positive

Your child is no longer required to do a COVID-19 rapid lateral flow test if they have symptoms. But if your child has tested positive for COVID-19, they should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days after the day they took the test.

Ear infection

If your child has an ear infection and a high temperature or severe earache, keep them off school until they're feeling better or their high temperature goes away.

Hand, foot and mouth disease

If your child has hand, foot and mouth disease but seems well enough to go to school, there's no need to keep them off.

Encourage your child to throw away any used tissues straight away and to wash their hands regularly.

Head lice and nits

There's no need to keep your child off school if they have head lice.

You can treat head lice and nits without seeing a GP.

Impetigo

If your child has impetigo, they'll need treatment from a GP, often with antibiotics.

Keep them off school until all the sores have crusted over and healed, or for 48 hours after they start antibiotic treatment.

Encourage your child to wash their hands regularly and not to share things like towels and cups with other children at school.

Ringworm

If your child has ringworm, see your pharmacist unless it's on their scalp, in which case you should see a GP.

It's fine for your child to go to school once they have started treatment.

Scarlet fever

If your child has scarlet fever, they'll need treatment with antibiotics from a GP. Otherwise they'll be infectious for 2 to 3 weeks.

Your child can go back to school 24 hours after starting antibiotics.

Slapped cheek syndrome (fifth disease)

You don't need to keep your child off school if they have slapped cheek syndrome because, once the rash appears, they're no longer infectious.

But let the school or teacher know if you think your child has slapped cheek syndrome.

Sore throat

You can still send your child to school if they have a sore throat. But if they also have a high temperature, they should stay at home until it goes away.

A sore throat and a high temperature can be symptoms of tonsillitis.

Threadworms

You don't need to keep your child off school if they have threadworms.

Speak to your pharmacist, who can recommend a treatment.