Excellent attendance and punctuality are essential for students to achieve individual excellence.  Is it an essential part of our Lincoln Expectations that students have excellent attendance (95% plus) in order to be both ready to learn and engaged in their education.

Attendance Guidelines

Introduction

At Priory Lincoln Academy, we have a commitment to the best possible standards of teaching and learning, and we encourage the expectations of behaviour and personal conduct that are expressed within the Priory Contract.  For us to achieve this, it is vital that our students attend regularly and on time and that attendance is 95% or higher.  When students are unwell and unable to get out of bed, we ask that families contact the family and seek appropriate support from the GP.  We respect that students will at times feel slightly unwell and will have the resilience to still come to the academy and not miss out on vital learning. 

Lateness

We respect the value of not just being present in the academy, but also being punctual at the start of the day and to every taught session. A student who misses the start of the day, misses vital tutorial time and preparation for the day ahead and may not get their registration mark.  Arriving late to lessons is also disruptive to teaching and learning and again, the student may miss important explanations, instructions or tasks which prevent them from understanding the lesson objectives and making good progress in the lesson. 

The academy day begins at 8.30am and all students are expected to be in their form room by that time.  Students who are late after the start of form time will have to enter academy site via the gate outside the Keyworth building until 8:55am.   After 8:55am, students will need to sign in at Student Reception (in Main Reception).  Students who arrive after 9:15 will sign in at Student Reception, but without an acceptable reason, will be given an unauthorised late mark.  Parents and carers face the possibility of a penalty notice if this becomes a persistent problem.

If you are experiencing difficulty in getting your child to school, please do not hesitate to contact us so that we can assist and support you.  

Why Regular Attendance Is So Important

 

Any absence during term time affects the continuity of a child’s schooling and more frequent absence seriously affects their learning. 95% attendance at school sounds good but this equates to missing 10 school days during the academic year or 50 lessons in total! If a child has 95% attendance over five years from Year 7 to 11, this means they will have missed 50 school days and 250 hours of teaching and learning time.

Attendance Matter: Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow

Encouraging and supporting good attendance is everyone’s responsibility, including parents, carers and staff.  At the Priory Lincoln Academy we do this by:

• Progress Check Reports three times a year.  
• Display of form attendance and term prize for the form with the best attendance
• Weekly 100% attendance prizes
• Pastoral support system for pupils to discuss concerns
• Termly Certificates for individuals with 100% attendance
• Presentation Assemblies
• Reward trips for good attendance
• Rewards through the Lincoln City Attendance 4 Attendance scheme Attendance4Attendance | Lincoln City Football Club (weareimps.com)

Understanding Types of Absence

• The Academy is required by law to record each half-day of absence as either authorised or unauthorised. Therefore, the cause of absence is always required, preferably in writing. Reasons such as illness or unavoidable medical appointments are considered reasonable to warrant an authorised absence from the academy.

  Unauthorised absences are those which the academy does not consider reasonable and no “leave” has been granted.  This includes:

• Parents/Carers keeping children off school unnecessarily
• Truancy from school
• Absences which are not linked to authorised reasons
• Pupils who arrive late at the Academy after the morning register has closed
• Day trips and holidays in term time which have not been authorised

  After the Covid pandemic, we acknowledge that some students have struggled with mental health and anxiety when it comes to making a full return to education.  As a learning community we look to work with families in order to support students to make progress not just with their learning, but also with their return to excellent attendance.  We have a Family Support Worker, Attendance Officer, Head of Year, Pastoral Manager and an Assistant Head of Year, in some year teams, to support children and families.

• Persistent Absenteeism

  Students who are absent for 10% or more across the academic year, regardless of the reason, are categorised as a ‘persistent absentee’.  The Academy monitors and tracks absenteeism meticulously. However, any student identified as having been absent for 10% of the school time or is at risk of moving towards that figure will be treated as a priority and parents/carers will be notified of this immediately and the Attendance Officer informed. 

  Students who attend less than 90% will find achieving individual excellence far more challenging.

  Absence Procedures: If your child is absent you must:

• Contact the Academy on the first day of absence
• Contact the Academy on each subsequent day of absence
• If you have failed to inform the academy of a reason for the absence, you must send in a written note detailing the reason for absence on your child’s first day of return to the academy.

  If your child is absent the Academy will:

• Telephone parents/carers if we have not heard from you
• Continue to request a reason via telephone calls or house visits.
• Invite you to discuss the situation with the Pastoral Manager and Head of Year or Assistant Head of Year.
• Access the service and support of the Attendance Officer and Family Support Worker if attendance begins to fall below 90%

  Appointments

  The wellbeing of our pupils is importance to us, and we wish to support parents and carers with any appointments that pupils need to attend. We ask where possible and if not urgent, that appointments are made after 15:30 so that the pupils learning is not interrupted. Frequent appointments can soon add up to missed education and progress is reduced. If an appointment is made during the school day we ask that you do not keep your child off school for the whole day. You will be able to pick up and drop off your child at Student Reception (inside Main Reception)..

  Moving School

  There are times when a pupil requests to move school due to house move, social/peer issues or other reasons. This can sometimes be a lengthy process and take several weeks to organise. There is a legal responsibility that during the process your child still attends school until the transfer takes place. Any missed school days will be marked as an unauthorised absence and could be issued with a fixed penalty notice.

  Telephone Numbers and Contact Details

  To ensure we can contact you quickly and efficiently, a data collection sheet is sent out to you when your child commences at the academy. Please complete this fully and return.  If there are any changes to your contact details during the year, you should either contact the academy or use the Sims Parent App to make any changes.

  The Attendance Officer

  The Academy values working in close partnership with parents/carers and encourages them to get in contact at an early stage to resolve any problems which are becoming apparent. Working in this way is very effective and ensures a high level of success.  However, if the academy feels a situation would benefit from more focused intervention, a student may be referred to the Attendance Officer who would also wish to work in partnership with the parent/carer/academy. It should be noted that if unauthorised absence persists, and other methods of intervention have been unsuccessful, the academy may instruct the relevant authorities to:

• Issue Penalty Notices or progress a case to prosecution in the Magistrates Court as it is a legal obligation of the parent/carer to ensure regular attendance of the child at school.

        Holidays in Term Time

• There is no legal entitlement for parents/carers to take their children out of school for holidays during term time.  The academy expects support from parents/carers by not taking their children out of school during term time. Only exceptional circumstance will be authorised, and the academy is consistent with its decisions on these. Holidays during term time are reported to Lincolnshire County Council and they will issue a fixed penalty notice.

  Any requests for leave of absence should be done by prior notice and via the leave of absence form available at the academy. We encourage you to be honest with the academy if you decide to take a holiday in term time.

  We thank you in advance with the support you provide the academy with your child’s attendance.

Please click on the link below to see the Priory Lincoln Academy's Attendance Policy:
Priory Lincoln Academy Attendance Policy

BEHAVIOUR

We have a culture where we aim to recognise and reward positive behaviour.  In order to achieve individual excellence, students are supported to meet the Expectations and Values of the Academy.