Attendance

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Procedure|Absences|Truancy Call|Truancy Watch|Help and Support

Procedure

If your child is going to be off school then please contact the Attendance Office by calling the main school number 0151 722 1561 and selecting Option 1.

Morning registration starts promptly at 8.30am but we ask that your child is through the gate by twenty past eight and is ready to learn!

If children are late and arrive after the gates have closed then they must sign the late book located in the 6th Form entrance at the Fiveways side of the building. This ensures they get their mark for registration and parents don't receive unnecessary phone calls from our truancy system. If your child arrives late we will send a phone call to make you aware of it.

What to do if your child is absent:

Telephone the school on the first day of the absence and let us know when your child will return. If you are unsure we ask that you telephone each morning until your child returns.
When your child returns please send them in with a note explaining the absence to their Group Tutor and, if appropriate, a medical note or appointment card.

What to do if you’re late and miss registration:

If you arrive late then please sign in at the 6th Form Entrance on the Fiveways side of the School.
Arriving late can mean you may receive a ‘U’ mark in the register, this is classed as an unauthorised absence.
You must sign in on arrival otherwise you will be marked as absent.
The school sends an automated call to parents when pupils are late.

Absences

Only allow your child to stay home if he/she has a genuine illness or a medical appointment.

Children should not miss valuable education for things like shopping trips, birthdays, haircuts, treats or to care for younger children.

We also ask that where possible you make medical appointments outside of school hours so they do not disrupt your child's education.

It is important that children do not miss valuable education for family holidays as they will fall behind in their work. If you do decide to take your child out of school for a holiday it will be marked as an unauthorised absence (G) in the register and you will receive a fine. You must also let the school know the dates of the absence well in advance.

95% is our minimum expectation for your child's attendance

Parents have a legal responsibility to make sure that their child gets a full time education; this includes both punctuality and attendance. There is a direct link between attendance and attainment and children cannot do their best at school if they do not attend regularly. Your child's exam results will suffer.

Attendance below 88% means a whole grade lower than your child can achieve when it comes to GCSE’s.

If your child has only 90% attendance

That's an average of half a day off every week
That's the equivalent to missing four weeks of school a year
That's 120 missed lessons
That's half a year of school over five years
That's a lot of catching up and some pupils never do
Every absence comes at a price...

Truancy Call

Childwall uses an automatic communication system called Truancy Call. It will contact you directly if your child is marked as absent from morning registration. This system ensures that you are alerted if your child is not in school when they should be and also that we know the reason for an absence is as soon as possible.

The system is also used to contact you if your child arrives late to school.

If you wish to update the numbers used by Truancy Call then please contact the school and inform us, it is important that the school has an up to date numbers to contact you on. You can also provide an e-mail address to be contacted on should you wish. If you do not wish for your child to be included on this system please contact your child's Pupil Progress Leader to discuss it.

Truancy Watch

Childwall also works in conjunction with the Local Authority and Merseyside Police on the Truancy Watch Scheme whereby any truanting pupils are returned to school immediately.

By utilising these services, our school is able to provide an early warning system should your child go missing from school. As always your child's safety and education is our main concern.