Excellent Attendance and the Impact on Student Progress
Regular attendance is not just a legal requirement, but it is vital for students to maximise their learning and achieve full potential here at Rockwood Academy. Research shows that students with the best attendance also achieve the best results.
What we are asking you to do:
As a parent or carer, there are important steps that we would ask you to take to support us in this focus on high levels of attendance:
- Ensure your child attends every day, on time, equipped and ready to learn. School starts promptly at 8.35am and students should be on the school grounds from 8.20am. Students arriving after 8.35am must sign in late at reception.
- Ensure the school has up to date addresses and telephone numbers. We will contact you if your child is absent and you have not contacted the school. This ensures that any absence is quickly identified.
- If your child is ill, please contact the school on each day of their absence and provide an explanatory note on their return to school.
- If no contact is received regarding the absence, it is recorded as unauthorised. Ultimately the school is responsible for deciding if the absence is acceptable or not. Only genuine absence will be authorised. You will be asked to provide medical evidence if your child has a poor attendance record.
- Please ensure that medical appointments are made outside of school time.
- Avoid trivial absences such as, ‘buying new shoes. This would not be accepted as a reasonable absence.
- Holidays should not be taken in school time. Any Leave of Absence can only be agreed by the Headteacher and only where there are exceptional circumstances.
- Respond to letters or telephone calls regarding attendance and punctuality.
- Contact your child’s Form Tutor, Year Group Coordinator or Head of Year if you are experiencing difficulty in getting your child into school.
Thank you for working in partnership with us to achieve the highest possible levels of attendance and punctuality at Rockwood Academy.