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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.

Whole School Letter Sept 2024

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.

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.

The Strategic Approach

Gossey Lane Academy adopts the 5 Foundations of Effective Attendance Practice framework, this is modelled on the work of Professor Katherine Weare. The emphasis is on developing a school culture and climate which builds a sense of connectedness and belonging to ensure all children can attend school and thrive. The approach ensures we prioritise building solid working relationships with children / parents prior to any escalation. The staged approach ensures we identify triggers early that can lead to poor attendance issues such as; mental health issues, lack of trust, communication and relationship breakdowns and the possible lack of networking opportunities both internal (in-school) and external (external agencies).

Aims

Increase school Attendance and reduce Persistent Absence to meet set targets.
Ensure Attendance is well managed within the school, with the appropriate level of resources allocated.
Enable the school to make informed use of Attendance data to target interventions appropriately, focusing on the key demographic groups highlighted in the 2022 DFE paper.

Objectives

To create an ethos in which good Attendance is recognised as the norm and every child / young person aims for excellent attendance;
To ensure Attendance and Punctuality is a key priority:
To set achievable targets to improve key demographic groups and individual children’s Attendance and PA.
To embed the 5 Foundations of Effective Attendance Practice framework and Key Performance Indicators aligned to the action plan.
To develop a systematic approach to gathering and analysing relevant attendance data – proactively implementing targeted support programmes to remove barriers regarding school attendance.
To develop effective partnership with external agencies and reviewing their impact.

5 Foundations of Effective Attendance Practice

Foundation 1 - The school has a fully embedded ethos in which excellent school attendance is expected, developed and nurtured. An escalated approach ensures the school has a deeply embedded and consistent whole school approach to improving attendance.

Foundation 2 - The approach to improving attendance is built on solid policies, systems and processes; this ensures sustainable and continuous improvement drives practice. Succession planning is built around an effective systems leadership model - rather than that of an individual Attendance Leader. The Attendance Policy drives school practice, it is deeply embedded in daily practise and ensures the school sets, and maintains, high expectations to improve the culture of attendance.

Foundation 3 - The school prioritises developing a fully engaged team of attendance experts; with a shared vision and core purpose. Through this development the Attendance Leader will raise the status of attendance and ensure improved attendance is both sustained and continuous. CPD will support staff at all levels to fully understand their role in supporting attendance. The development of external partnerships will support attendance improvements through a multi-disciplinary approach for identified children and families.

Foundation 4 - Data information and analysis direct resources proactively towards key demographic groups and identified individuals. The expert use of data analysis informs decision making at all levels. A rigorous and effective attendance cycle ensures the Attendance Leader not only captures key information but also further understands the ‘deeper roots’ that creates barriers regarding attendance to school.

Foundation 5 - Connecting and belonging drives the school approach to supporting attendance - this is deeply embedded in an evidence-based approach. The school has effective routines in place that are followed by staff. Staff at all levels within the school understand the 'deeper roots' regarding poor attendance and this is supported through a systematic approach. The school has developed, and embedded, an effective rewards system to further drive attendance improvements and celebrate success.

DFE: Working Together To Improve Attendance 2022.

From September 2022 the DFE: Working Together To Improve Attendance paper will replace all previous guidance on school attendance except for statutory guidance for parental responsibility measures. The Secretary of State has committed to it becoming statutory when parliamentary time allows (this will be no sooner than September 2023).

The table below identifies how the 5 Foundations of Effective Practice will underpin the DFE 2022 paper. Dfe and 5 fs new