Attendance

At Wollaston School we encourage, value and reward good attendance and currently the average attendance of our students is above 95%. Research shows that good attendance goes hand in hand with good progress and examination results and therefore, we will monitor and inform you of your child’s attendance rate regularly and promote, within school, good attendance and punctuality.

We strive to achieve this in a number of ways:

• Regular conversations with students about attendance.
• Using an Attendance Tracker System built into the student planner.
• Increasing the awareness of the relationship between good attendance and progress.
• Rewarding excellent attendance and recognising improving attendance.
• Celebrating tutor group average attendance.
• Regular communication with parents/carers.
• Using outside agencies to help families.

We appreciate that students do become ill on occasions, but we promote a return to school as soon as possible after their absence and ensure students work towards catching up with the learning they have missed. We recognise the need for some students to be supported on their return to school and use a multitude of supportive strategies to facilitate the integration. All teachers help support this process.

It is important to note that schools are not able to authorise holiday in term time.

We place equally high value on punctuality. When the school day begins at 8.30am, the gates are locked for security purposes. Students who are late sign in at main reception. There are sanctions for students who are consistently late.

If a child is unavoidably absent from Wollaston School, parents are asked to contact the school as soon as possible. Please give the reason for the absence, along with the child’s name and form.

Reporting a Student Absence

The quickest and preferred method is to use the EduLink Phone App / Website.

If you are unable to use EduLink, you can also leave a voicemail at the below number

Telephone: 01933 663501

Email: [email protected]

The parents of any student not marked present during morning registration will be sent an email message. Parents are asked to respond by email or phone call explaining why their child is absent.

Please ensure that, if your child is ill, you notify the school on the first day and every following day of the absence, including an estimation of the likely length of absence. Please note, the guideline from many primary schools to give children 48 hours away from school after illness is not standard practise in secondary school and a swift return at the earliest point of recovery is necessary.