Parents

Attendance and Punctuality

Attendance

The Academy’s minimum expectation for attendance is 97%.  Regular attendance means that your child has a much better chance of reaching their full potential throughout each and every year.

You can only allow your child to miss school if either they’re too ill to attend or you’ve received advance permission from the Academy.

  1. What should I do if my child is ill and cannot come into the Academy?

We ask all our parents/carers to contact the Academy on each day of their child’s absence before 8:00am to explain the exceptional reason for their child’s absence.  This can be done by leaving a message on the student absence line.  We encourage you to send your child to the Academy if it is a minor illness.  Your child’s Year Leader will make a judgement as to whether your child should stay in the Academy for the day.

  1. What do I need to do if my child needs to leave the Academy during the day?

A letter/email needs to be sent to your child’s Year Leader or FAO Attendance Officer ahead of time so that we are made aware of the reason as to why they need to leave early. Students must sign out at Reception, if they leave during the Academy day. We ask that you collect your child from the school Reception. We cannot allow students to leave site in these circumstance to make their own way home or to appointments as their safety is always our number one priority.

  1. Do I need to provide medical evidence for appointments? Dentist, doctors, hospital, optician, orthodontist?

Whenever possible, all medical appointments should be made outside of Academy hours. We are aware that some appointments have to be made during the Academy day. For these we need to see medical cards or appointment letters from the relevant medical professional, in order for this absence to be authorised.

  1. What happens if my child is not in the Academy and I do not inform you?

If a reason is not given for your child’s absence via the student absence line before 8:00am, you will receive a Parentmail notification from the Academy asking for an explanation.  Should we not be able to contact you we will record your child’s attendance as unauthorised.  We will continue to try and contact you to ascertain the reason for your child’s absence (contact will be attempted in a number of ways; text messages, calls & voicemails, emails, letters and home visits).  Unauthorised absence is looked at closely by the Pastoral Team.  We always in the first instance support you in getting your child back into the Academy.  However persistent absenteeism impacts significantly on your child’s progress and so we will use a firm line alongside government legislation if necessary.

Holidays during term time

If you wish to request a family holiday during term time, this request will need to be made in writing to the Principal (either letter or email).  It will be the Principal that will then decide whether they allow the student to take time off from the Academy.  Please note that it is exceptionally rare for any holidays to be authorised during term time as students already have 13 weeks of Academy holidays.

Should you still wish to take your child out of the Academy during term time, this will be marked as an unauthorised absence on your child’s attendance record.  Due to concerns surrounding the amount of unauthorised absences and the impact this has on student’s education, we will request that the Local Authority issue penalty notices to parents/carers if they take their child out of the Academy during term time.

Penalty Notices

If your child does not attend regularly we will work with you to try and support better attendance.  This is done through attendance meetings with your child’s Year Leader or a member of the Pastoral Support Team.

However, should this not work, we will request legal action from the Local Authority (if applicable).  This may be a penalty notice of £60 per child per parent/carer.  If this remains unpaid after 21 days it will rise to £120 per child per parent/carer.  If it remains unpaid after 28 days it may be referred to the Magistrates court. A penalty notice is an alternative to prosecution and is in place to secure better attendance.

Punctuality

To the Academy

This is key for every student every day.  We expect students to arrive at the Academy no later than 8:25am.

The Year Leader or a member of the Senior Leadership Team will call for silence at 8:25am, Tutor Groups will then move into their tutor room one at a time. Students should be sat in their seats no later than 8:30am, otherwise they will be marked down as late.

Students who are late to the Academy for no authorised reason will lose their break time on the same day for a punctuality detention.  If you travel by bus and it is running late, this will be classed as authorised i.e. it is not your fault. Students who are persistently late (more than 5 lates in a half term) move to automatic after school, 1 hour detention. Parents will be notified via Parentmail notification of the after school detention. Should a student not attend the after school detention they will be placed in the Independent Learning Unit (ILU) for the following day and will sit the after school detention that same night.

Should your child be persistently late, your child’s Year Leader or a member of the Pastoral Team will arrange to meet with you to help support you getting your child to the Academy on time.

To Lessons

We expect every child to arrive at their lessons on time and be ready to work.  Student lateness is monitored through the week for every lesson. At the end of break and lunch a fog horn is sounded just prior to the bell to ensure all students know it is the end of their social time. You will be informed if your child shows a pattern of lateness to lessons that we are concerned about. Students who are persistently late will be placed on an attendance and punctuality card and issued with a negative point for defiance and non-co-operation.

Contact Us

Bluecoat Trent Academy
Aspley Lane
Nottingham
NG8 5GY

E-mail: bta-office@bluecoattrent.co.uk
Tel: 0115 900 7245

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