At Devizes School, we have very high standards, and this includes our expectation of full attendance and punctuality to school and lessons. Parents have a legal duty to ensure that their children attend school full-time.
It is often recognised that high levels of school attendance are closely linked with better student attainment, wellbeing, and sense of community / belonging. Where absence falls below expected levels, we work closely with parents, students and wider agencies to remove barriers and increase attendance, as appropriate.
We encourage and recognise good and improved attendance by awarding weekly house points as well as termly and annual rewards for students, as appropriate.
Reporting Illness
Please only report absences using one of these 3 methods and preferably before 8.20am:
- email the attendance team via this email address [email protected]
- via the EduLink App
- Telephone the school on 01380 724886 and follow the instructions for 'reporting a student absence'.
This ensures absences are recorded correctly and in a timely manner.
Please do not send notifications directly to teaching staff, Pastoral teams or via the school contact link on our website as this can delay the reporting process and as result absence calls may be sent out unnecessarily.
The EduLink App and Attendance email address is managed by the Attendance Team, where contingency plans are in place should staff be absent. This ensures we minimise any inconvenience to parents and safeguards our students.
Reporting Exam Absence
If difficulties are experienced during the examination period (e.g. illness, injury, personal problems), please inform the school at the earliest possible point so we can help or advise.
Only in exceptional circumstances are candidates allowed special consideration for absence from any part of an examination. It is essential that medical or other appropriate evidence is obtained and given to the examination officer without delay in all cases where an application is to be made for special consideration. A self-certification form (JCQ/ME Form 14) can be obtained from the examinations officer.
Parents and candidates are reminded that the school will require payment of entry fees (approximately £29.00 / £77.00 per subject) should a candidate fail to attend an examination without good reason and without informing the school, as detailed in the examination contract.
Please note that misreading the timetable will not be accepted as a satisfactory explanation of absence.
Parents are asked to refrain from arranging family holidays when examinations are taking place, and if absence permission for this purpose is sought, authorisation will not be given.
‘Truancy Call’
The school has an automated ‘absence call’ system. This system operates to ensure that your child is safe. If a student is not in school by 8:45 a.m. and we have not received a call or email explaining his or her absence on that day, parents will be called once every hour during the day until a response is received explaining why the student is absent.
To safeguard our students, we will notify parent/carers of their child’s absence from school on a daily basis. We will do this even when a child has been collected from school the previous day. This is because unless advised otherwise we do not know if your child has left the family home to come to school.
Exceptional Circumstances Known in Advance
In such circumstances, the parents must write in advance to the headteacher, explaining the situation and requesting permission for authorised absence. The school follows the local authority’s attendance code. Absence from school can either be authorised by the school or unauthorised:
- AUTHORISED ABSENCE will include genuine illness, medical appointments, music exams, special tuition, approved public performances, work experience, interviews, non-arrival of school transport, immediate family bereavements, exclusion of students, and some family holidays that have the prior approval of the headteacher.
- UNAUTHORISED ABSENCE (i.e. permission has NOT been given by the school) includes unauthorised holidays in term time (see below), truancy, caring for younger brothers and sisters, visits to relatives, long weekends, shopping, excess of time on holiday over that agreed with the school, and arrival in school after 8:45 a.m. or 1:30 p.m.
Family Holidays in Term Time
Parents should arrange family holidays only during school holiday periods. If there are exceptional circumstances, parents should write to the headteacher to seek permission before making holiday arrangements in term time.
If a student has five or more days of unauthorised holiday absence within a six-month period of the current academic year, the school must notify the local authority and a penalty notice will be issued to each parent. The cost of a penalty notice is £120 per child, per parent. This can be reduced to £60 per child per parent if paid within 21 days.
Absence Documents
Punctuality
Punctuality, like full attendance, is very important. Students should arrive at school by 8:20 a.m. — there is no supervision prior to this apart from breakfast club.
The school registers each student electronically for all lessons throughout the day. This encourages full attendance and good punctuality in lessons. To discourage lateness, raising achievement leaders organise after-school detentions as necessary for students who are persistently late. There are occasions when school buses are late, in which case staff will be aware of this and take it into account.
Education Welfare Officer
Mrs Emilia Hartley is our school educational welfare officer. Mrs Hartley deals with severe or persistent attendance problems, child employment, and other welfare matters. She has regular contact with raising achievement leaders and is also available to act as a confidential counsellor to students if necessary. Mrs Hartley can be contacted via the school switchboard.
