School attendance

At Hadley Learning Community, we believe that attending school regularly is vitally important to your child’s future. If your child is absent from school they will obviously be missing lessons and learning opportunities. National research has proven that children who miss school frequently will fall behind with their schoolwork, which has a negative impact on exam performance and can lead to poor social skills and friendship issues.  Children who are persistently absent from school are also at increased risk of becoming involved with anti-social behaviour and crime.

We believe that every student should strive to achieve 100% attendance, and robust systems are in place to support families and children in achieving this goal. We reward our students for outstanding attendance in a number of ways, to promote a strong work ethic and prepare our students for life beyond school.  We want to maximise the future chances for all students.

We have a fulltime attendance support team led by Sharon Cloughley and it is her role to monitor student attendance, support families and implement our systems that challenge poor attendance.

Useful information on attendance

For parents and carers in need of additional support around attendance and absence, you can learn about the Attendance and Welfare Team here: Attendance and Welfare Team | Learning Community Trust

Once your child is registered at a school, you are legally responsible for making sure they attend regularly. If your child fails to do so, and there are no exceptional circumstances for an absence, you are at risk of being issued with a penalty notice or being prosecuted in court.

Non-attendance

If a school identifies a child as having low attendance, letters expressing their concern will be sent by the school and to ask parents to get in touch. The attendance service within the Learning Community Trust is also notified.

Within the letter, the school may request a meeting to advise parents of legal responsibilities, and examine any issues that may be causing poor attendance and draw up an action plan to improve the situation. If parents do not attend this meeting, the Attendance Leader will offer a home visit to discuss any concerns.

If there is no improvement in the child's attendance, a legal meeting will be held. Following this, if there is still no improvement, legal proceedings may follow.

Absence without permission

If you choose to take your child out of school for a holiday or any other leave of absence without permission from school, it will be recorded as a period of unauthorised absence. This means that you may be issued a penalty notice (a fine) to pay.