Every Student, Every School, Every Day

To report a pupil absence please use the MCAS (My Child At School) app.

For any additional attendance queries, please contact: [email protected]

Government Guidelines: Working together to improve school attendance

Section 7 of the 1996 Education Act states that parents must ensure that children of compulsory school age receive efficient full-time education suitable to their age, ability and aptitude to any special educational needs they may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise. 

Under the Education Act 1996, the Local Authority has a statutory responsibility to ensure that parents secure education for children of compulsory school age and where necessary, use legal enforcement. This responsibility is undertaken by Education Welfare.

Every school day matters. Excellent attendance promotes excellent learning and regular school attendance is essential if students are to achieve their full potential.

If your child is missing lessons, this could affect their learning in the following ways:

  • Affects student’s attainment. Your child’s results and progress suffers when they are not in school. 
  • Students suffer a break in the continuity of their learning or miss important topics.
  • Students lack confidence due to the fact that they have missed midtopic information and are unable to understand or catch up – much of the work missed is never made up, which puts them at a disadvantage at exam time. 


At Chantry Middle School, we:

  • Believe that regular school attendance is crucial to allowing children to maximise the educational opportunities available to them and become emotionally resilient, confident and competent young adults who are able to realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to their community.    
  • Value all students. As set out in this policy, we will work with families in order to identify at the earliest opportunity the reasons for poor attendance and try to resolve any difficulties. 
  • We believe attendance is a shared responsibility, involving the whole school community and local community; Our Attendance Policy should not be viewed in isolation; it is a thread that runs through all aspects of school improvement, and is supported by our policies on safeguarding, bullying and behaviour. This policy also takes into account the Human Rights Act 1998, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Race Relations Act 2000.


We define our key levels of attendance as:

Attendance  Description and approx days lost per year/approx weeks lost per year
98% + Excellent – a great achievement
< 4 days lost learning per year (approx less than 1 week)
96.0-97.9%  Good – well done
Up to 7.5 days lost learning per year (approx 1-2 weeks)
94.0-95.9%  Satisfactory – aim for no further absences
Up to 11.5 days lost learning per year (approx 2-3 weeks)
90.0 -93.9%  Requiring rapid improvement
Up to 19 days lost learning per year (approx 3-4 weeks)
< 90%  Persistent Absence
20 days lost learning per year (approx + 4 or more weeks)

Routine is the key to success

At home, routine is the key to making simple changes for success and here is a six point plan to try with the family: 

  • Going to school unprepared can be a major worry for children – help by checking school bags the night before, packing P.E. bags and keeping an eye on homework progress. 
  • Tired children aren’t punctual and find it hard to learn, so ensure your child has a sensible bedtime. 
  • Help your children get into a regular routine and set the alarm at the same time every morning. 
  • Make time for breakfast so there are no shop stops where children can get side-tracked on the way to school. A nutritious breakfast also fuels more effective learning. 
  • Children can become unsettled if they have to go into school late and without their friends – getting children to school in time to meet friends in the yard prevents this.


As a parent you can help us by:

  • Ringing on the first morning of all absences with the reason and saying when the child will return.
  • Arranging dental and doctor’s appointments out of school hours or during school breaks.
  • Sending in a note explaining the reason for absence on your child’s return to school after an illness.
  • Keeping us updated by telephone or letter if your child has an extended period of absence due to illness.

What will we do?

  • Use our pastoral systems to support – Communication is important to us and we will always endeavour to respond to queries within a reasonable time. 
  • Promote good attendance through praise and rewards – Year teams will drive rewards in their respective years, praising students for having excellent attendance, as well as making improvements to previously concerning attendance levels. 
  • Contact you to discuss absences – In the first instance, we will always contact you to ensure we know that every child not in school is safe. Following this you will receive a phone call. We will also communicate with you through letters and emails.
  • Write to you to set targets around attendance – If there is no improvement with attendance following phone calls, then we will write to you to set targets. These may be set by Head Of Year or, where there is an escalating concern, the EWO.

Punctuality

Being on time to school is a life skill and one that we promote here at Chantry Middle School.

Poor punctuality only applies to a minority of our children but it is noted on a daily basis. Children who arrive late disrupt the class and miss very important introductions to the lesson. Please make every effort to ensure that your children arrive on time. Missing just 10 minutes of the school a day (either in the morning or afternoon) is the same as missing two weeks over the year.


Illness – Should my child attend school?

Child Protection

The school has a legal responsibility to log any incidents of concern about health, safety and welfare of the children and to contact social services if we feel it is necessary. Mrs Binns is our Designated Safegarding Lead and ensures that correct procedures are always followed in school. We work with parents very closely if we have any concerns about a child’s welfare.

We all have a responsibility to ensure every child attends school. If your child is absent without a justifiable explanation you are stopping them from learning and this is unacceptable. The school has a legal duty to publish its attendance figures to parents and promote attendance. Equally, parents have a legal duty to make sure that their child attends school. School staff are committed to working with parents to ensure every child achieves their potential by attending school every day.

For more information, please read our Attendance Policy