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Attendance & PunctualityBack to Key Information

'Attendance matters. Latest DFE statistics show that missing just 10 days of year 11 reduced the likelihood of achieving grade 5 in English and Maths by around 50%'

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Poor attendance has a direct impact on a pupils’ attainment, future earnings and life chances - with persistently absent pupils in secondary school earning £10,000 less at age 28 compared to pupils with strong attendance - 16th May 2025 Gov.uk press release 

Attendance expectations at The Compton School

  • We want students to attend school every day to ensure they benefit from experience and opportunities the school offers. Regular attendance at school is essential to ensure uninterrupted progress and to enable children to fulfil their potential. There is a clear link between good attendance and students achieving the top grades in public examinations.

  • All students are expected to have 97% attendance, as stated in our Attendance Policy. A student with attendance below 90% is considered a persistent absentee, as per local authority guidance. This equates 19 days of absence across the year. Minor ailments, such as a headache or slight cold, are not acceptable reasons for failing to attend school.

  • We are confident that parents are keen to work with us to ensure that all students meet the threshold requirements since it is clear that this will have a positive effect on their learning. However, where there are repeated absences, the school may request parents to obtain medical evidence from a doctor’s surgery as recommended by the Government. Where attendance becomes problematic and persistent making it impossible for your child to make satisfactory progress further action may be taken which could involve legal proceedings. 

What happens if my child's absence falls below 90%

  • Attendance below 90% is considered ‘Persistent Absenteeism’. We know some children have medical conditions which at times can affect their ability to attend school, however for the majority they should be in school full time. Our Attendance Officer monitors our attendance carefully and looks at individual cases in meetings with our Year Managers and Key Stage Leaders. We will ask you to provide appointment cards or medical notes in order to be able to authorise your child’s absence if it dips below 92%.

  • Every half day absence from school has to be classified by the school (not the parent/carer) as either AUTHORISED or UNAUTHORISED. This is why information about the cause of absence is always required. The Attendance Officer will inform you if your child accrues a number of unauthorised absences and a home visit may be carried out as a result. 

  • Please note as in line with our attendance policy, students with a number of unauthorised lates/ absences may be issued a Fixed Penalty Notice, as per DFE guidance and stated in our Attendance Policy Working together to improve school attendance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The threshold is 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. A school week means any week in which there is at least one school session. This can be met with any combination of unauthorised absences, these sessions can be consecutive, or not. The period of 10 school weeks can also span different terms or school years. The first penalty notice issued to a parent in respect of a particular pupil will be charged at £160 if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days, a second penalty notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil is charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days.

Reporting an absence

  • All absences must be reported by 8.30am on the first day of absence, either via the Arbor App or school voicemail. Parents should then notify the school on each subsequent day of absence, via the Arbor App or school voicemail. Please state the following when reporting an absence: Your child’s full name, year group, form group, reason for absence and length of the absence. 

  • If a student is absent from registration/ period 1 and the school has not been notified, an in-app message/ email will be sent notifying you of the absence and requesting you contact the school to provide a reason.

  • Please note you do not need to record the absence in the Arbor App and leave a voicemail - only one method of communication is needed and using the Arbor App would be preferred for on the day absences. 

  • If your child visits a medical professional, please record this via the Arbor App/ Voicemail. When providing evidence of the appointment, please do this via email and attach appointment cards, screenshots of emails, letters or medication (dated) for our attendance records. You should attach any evidence for the absence to the email. Please email attendance@thecompton.org.uk with this information. Please do not report absences via email. We request that supporting medical evidence be sent in via email where appropriate, however the absence must be recorded on the Arbor App/ voicemail alongside this. 

  • Other than emergency medical appointments, appointments should be scheduled to take place outside of school hours wherever possible. If this is unavoidable, please ensure we have at least 24 hours’ notice of appointments to allow us to process them and make arrangements for your child to leave on time, in accordance with our attendance policy. All appointments should be recorded on the Arbor App or voicemail. 

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What time should my child be at school?

  • Please see the School Day on our website for the specific timing for your child. Students who are late to school should expect to serve a detention to make up the time that has been lost if there is no valid reason for being late. Students given an unauthorised late will be set a 1-hour detention with their Year Manager. Parents will be contacted, as per our Positive Behaviour Policy. 

Authorised absences

  • Please note that the decision of whether or not to authorise an absence rests with the school. Written requests are required for all absences using the application for leave of absence form. All medical appointments should be taken out of school where possible, however if your child is receiving medical or dental treatment, evidence should be provided.

  • Students leaving the school site during the day for medical appointments etc. must have a note from parents stating the reason for leaving school. All students will need to be collected from the main reception to ensure a hand over takes place.

  • Please be aware that we check the attendance of every child who is marked in the register as absent without exception. This includes the Sixth Form students.

  • It is absolutely vital that any student leaving the school site during the day signs out at Student Services with our Attendance Officer and then signs back in again on their return to school. In addition an adult must collect the student from the school. This procedure is particularly important in case of a fire drill or emergency evacuation.

  • We will not authorise absences for shopping trips, birthdays or other preventable absences. The full list of absences are contained in our Attendance Policy.

Holidays

  • Holidays during term time are only permitted in exceptional circumstances and only with the explicit permission of the Headteacher. Any requests for holiday during term time must be made in writing to the Attendance Officer attendance@thecompton.org.uk. Parents should be aware that holidays taken during term time will have a highly detrimental impact on a child's learning.

Additional information

For any further information please see our Attendance and Punctuality Policy

National School Attendance Award 2023/24

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School attendance: how early intervention has helped | Tes

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