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Attendance
Cockburn John Charles Academy is committed to the continuous raising of achievement of all our students. Regular attendance is essential if our students are to be successful, and benefit from the opportunities offered to them in school, through their education.
Excellent attendance is fundamental to a successful and fulfilling school experience. We actively promote 100% attendance for all our students and we use a variety of weekly, termly and annual awards to promote excellent attendance and punctuality.
We recognise that parents and carers have a vital role to play and there is a need to establish strong home-school links and communication systems that can be used whenever there is concern about attendance.
Year after year, the students with excellent school attendance achieve the best results. Students with 100% attendance made on average nearly a grade more progress, per subject than students with 95% attendance. Students with 80% attendance made, on average, almost a grade and a half less progress.
Parents,carers and families are therefore asked to ensure that their young person is in school every day of term.
The law states that students can miss school if:
- They are too unwell to attend school*;
- It has been authorised in advance by the Head of School (such as a religious observance including attending the wedding of a family member, funeral or competitive sporting event).
Attendance Processes:
If your child is absent from the academy you must telephone the Attendance Line 0113 4872800 on the first day of absence before 8.00am and provide a reason.
Please be aware that Cockburn John Charles Academy works closely with Leeds City Council and will transfer any cases of persistently poor attendance for possible prosecution in either the Family or Magistrates Court.
- If we do not receive communication, you will receive a phone call home from one of our team of dedicated Attendance Officers.
- A home visit may be made depending on the student’s attendance record and the nature of the absence.
- On returning to the academy the student must take responsibility to catch up on work missed.
Home visits will be conducted by members of the Attendance Team if a student’s attendance is of concern. The purpose of making home visits is to have a conversation with families about their young person’s attendance, complete a safeguarding check and offer support where applicable.
The 100% Attendance Club
Maintaining an attendance record of 100% is a brilliant achievement and one that we are delighted to reward and celebrate. Students who achieve 100% attendance will be given a much-deserved place in the 100% Attendance Club. Membership of the club entitles students to a range of rewards, including celebration activities and pop-up events throughout the year.
Membership to 100% Attendance Club is celebrated in assembly when they enter the club. This is a student’s pass to a raft of awards. Students that are members of the 100% Attendance Club in September are those that secured 100% attendance at Cockburn John Charles Academy during the whole of the previous academic year. After October half term, we will welcome to the club every student that has achieved 100% attendance during the first half term of the year. Students stay in the club and experience all the perks that go alongside this for as long as they maintain 100% attendance.
Exceptional Circumstances
We recognise 100% Attendance as being a huge achievement and one that needs significant reward and celebration! Therefore, only students with 100% Attendance will be granted access to the club. The 100% attendance club is a reward for those students who show resilience and excellent attitudes to school. We do, however, recognise that in some cases, absence from school is unavoidable. Examples include students being absent from school:
- to mark a religious observance including attending the wedding of a family member.
- to attend a specialist medical appointment related to a lifelong medical condition.
- to grieve for, and attend a funeral of an immediate family member.
In all cases where a parent / carer is seeking an exception to be made, the Attendance Champion must authorise this. Please complete an ‘Exceptional Circumstances' form and return to the academy by email or post.
Students who maintain attendance above 98% will be able to access some of the same rewards given to those in the 100% Attendance Club. The Attendance Team may, when appropriate, also provide incentives and rewards specifically targeted to individuals or groups where it is seen fit.
Punctuality
The Attendance Co-ordinator is responsible for monitoring each individual student’s punctuality daily, weekly, half termly and termly
- Form Tutors should enforce the academy policy on lateness (after 8.30am)
- Head of Year checks students’ lateness on a daily basis
- Form Tutors/subject teachers issue the detentions to students who sign in late between 8.30am – 8.50am and all other lessons after the start of the lesson.
For those who arrive late to academy there will be an automatic detention set
- Students who are repeatedly late will be placed on punctuality report and tracked daily
- Parent/carers will be informed when a student is late to academy via text/email or phone call.
- If a student is persistently late to school, a parental meeting will be arranged and punctuality report and action plan will be made and reviewed.
- HOY and DOY will track punctuality throughout the year and intervene where required.
Poor Punctuality sanctions: Per half term
- Every late to school after 8.30am = 1 hour detention
- Late to lesson = PDFL Score 2 and 1 hour detention
- Three lates in a half term = letter home to inform parent
- Six lates in a half term = Letter home and phone call from attendance team
- Nine lates over a half term = DOY arranges parental meeting and action plan created
- Any further lates = Parental meeting with a member of SLT
- U codes (late after register closed) counts towards a late detention and also an unauthorised absence
The Attendance Co-ordinator keeps in daily contact with the Alternative Provisions and Inclusion Room to check who needs a mark.
Click here for our Attendance Policy.
What do I need to do if my child is unwell?
Should your child be unwell and unable to attend school please:
Contact CJCA via telephone and press option 1 for reporting an absence.
Follow this up with a note in the child’s planner where possible.
If your child is unwell the following day it is important that you contact us and let us know every day they are not in school.
Should your child be absent for five or more days you will be asked to provide medical evidence in the form of a doctor's note or prescription.
If we do not know why your child is not in school then this absence would be classed as unexplained. It is essential that school knows where your child is should they not be in school and this means that we will need to contact you to find out why they are not in school.
I need to make a medical appointment for my child, when is the best time to do this?
We ask, wherever possible, that you make any appointments outside of the school day.
If you need to take your child out of school for a medical appointment, or they are due to arrive later/finish earlier due to an appointment, then we please ask you to provide us with medical evidence of the appointment. This can be in the form of an appointment card, text, email, or letter.
Can I take my child on holiday during term time?
Full school attendance is vital for your child’s progress and attainment.
Why is attendance so important?
The Attendance Ladder on this page shows why attendance in school is so important for your child. For every day your child is absent, they lose 5 hours of learning.
Over a year, a child with 90% attendance will lose 18 school days. Should your child have 90% attendance throughout their time at Cockburn John Charles Academy they will effectively lose half a year of schooling.
We actively promote 100% attendance for all our students and celebrate with the pupils who have above 96% attendance. Use the ladder to see where your child is currently at and challenge them to the next rung.
We recognise that some pupils cannot achieve 100% attendance and encourage you to work with us so that we can celebrate improvement together.
What to do if you are worried?
We want to work with you to support your child in their education.
Please contact us as soon as you realise your child is experiencing difficulties.
Should you be aware of a change in circumstances that may impact on your child's attendance please speak with us. It may be that your child helps with caring responsibilities or there is an issue with transport but we need to know so that we can work with you to ensure your child is able to attend school and learn.
Please contact school and ask to speak with your child's Head or Director of Year.
What does the law say about poor school attendance?
Under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996, parents or carers may be prosecuted if their child does not attend school regularly and their
absences are unauthorised (or in other words, the school cannot or has not given permission for them to be off school).
Leeds Local Authority has the power to issue Penalty Notices as an alternative to taking legal action. Penalty Notices are issued to parents or carers who are considered capable of, but unwilling to work towards improving their child’s attendance.
When will a Penalty Notice be issued?
Leeds Local Authority will always try to work with schools, parents or carers and students to improve student attendance, but will issue Penalty Notices where a student has missed at least 10 sessions (5 school days) due to unauthorised absence in the last 10 weeks.
What is a Warning Notice?
Note: Warning Notices are not issued for absences due to leave taken during term time - parents or carers will receive a Penalty Notice only.
Before a Penalty Notice is issued, you will receive a written warning which will explain the extent of your child’s non-attendance and the possibility of you receiving a Penalty Notice. You may receive more than one Warning Notice and Penalty Notice if you have more than one child with poor attendance.
During this period, your child must not have any further unauthorised absences from school or a Penalty Notice will be issued.
There is no limit to the number of times a Warning Notice can be issued.