Attendance

Going to school regularly is important for your child’s future. Parents are responsible for making sure their children receive full-time education. Talking to your child and their teachers could help solve any problems if your child does not want to go to school. At Gossey Lane we strive to achieve the national expectations for attendance and to reduce the number of pupils who are persistently absent.

Regular school attendance 

Good attendance shows secondary schools and future potential employers that your child is reliable.

Gossey Lane Academy records details of all children’s attendance and absence at school. We must do so at the beginning of morning and afternoon sessions. If your child is absent, you must tell the school why immediately.

The school will record the absence; the Local Authority will receive this information for each child. The Department of Education also receives annual attendance data for the school.

Your responsibilities as a parent

By law, all children of compulsory school age must receive a suitable full-time education. For most parents, this means registering their child at a school – though some choose to make other arrangements to provide a suitable, full-time education.

Once your child is registered at Gossey Lane Academy, the parent is legally responsible for making sure they attend on a regular basis.  If your child does not attend school on a regular basis you could get fined or be prosecuted in court.

How to prevent your child from missing school

You can help prevent your child missing school by:

• making sure they understand the importance of good attendance and punctuality
• taking an interest in their education – ask about school work and encourage them to get involved in school activities
• discussing any problems they may have at school and letting their teacher or principal know about anything serious
• not letting them take time off school for minor ailments – particularly those which would not prevent you from going to work

To avoid disrupting your child’s education, you should arrange appointments and outings:

• after school hours
• at weekends
• during school holidays
• You should not expect Gossey Lane Academy to authorise absences for a holiday during term time.

Please click here to view the Whole School Attendance letter, written in Partnership with Birmingham Local Education Authority.

Support on school attendance

A child’s school attendance can be affected if there are problems with:

• bullying
• housing or care arrangements
• transport to and from school
• work and money

If your child starts missing school, you might not know there is a problem.  Talking to your child’s class teacher and the pastoral team is the best approach to tackling any issues.

Warwickshire Attendance Service.

The Warwickshire Attendance Service (WAS) are a Trade Service and commissioned by the WHMAT.  WAS representatives have a role to play in ensuring that children and young people are adequately supported in improving their attendance where required.  Each year WAS will work in partnership with the Attendance Leader and School Attendance Officer to support attendance of children within the school and families.  The WAS representative will:

• Further support in developing systems to ensure consistency and uniformity in communication and sharing key information.
• Support a tiered approach to escalation to improve attendance and deliver legal intervention.
• Support in monitoring absence and day to day procedures defining clear roles and responsibilities.
• Provide capacity in monitoring children identified as requiring early intervention (95% attendance).
• Evidence and review documentation to support any legal process.
• Support data analysis.
• Warwickshire Attendance Service will adhere to and ensure that the Birmingham City Council Fast-Track guidance is implemented within the school.

Support from Gossey Lane Academy

The school is the first place to discuss any attendance problems. The school will agree a plan with you to improve your child’s attendance.

If your child’s attendance gives the school reason for concern (the trigger point is when attendance drops below 95 per cent), we will invite you into school to discuss support and next steps to improve attendance.

At Gossey Lane we strive to ensure that our children leave school equipped with the knowledge and skills to succeed at secondary school and later in life. Our whole school attendance target is 96%. This is also the national average figure for whole school attendance.

Please click here to view the whole school attendance process map.