Attendance
The Attendance Team
At Bradford Academy, attendance is extremely important!
Primary Vice Principal and Primary Attendance Lead
Attendance Officer
Attendance Officer
Research proves that there is a very clear relationship between excellent school attendance and academic achievement. Year after year, the learners with the best school attendance achieve the best results. We are passionate about providing learners with the best possible life chances.
All learners at Bradford Academy are set an attendance target of 96% or above.
Learners with 96% attendance and above are more likely to:
- Be appointed to a well-paid job.
- Make the best progress in their subjects.
- Develop good habits for work and wider life.
- Achieve higher than average grades in their statutory assessments.
- Secure a place at a college, University or a training course.
- Maintaining strong and sound friendships.
Parents, carers and families are therefore asked to ensure that their young person is in school every day of term.
The law states that learners can miss school if they are:
- Too unwell to attend school*;
- It has been authorised in advance by the Principal (such as a religious observance, funeral or competitive sporting event).
* Schools may ask for medical evidence to authorise extended periods of absence or when attendance is below 95%.
The table below details the number of days and lessons of invaluable learning opportunities missed over a year with attendance at different levels.
Attendance Process
If your child is absent from the Academy you must telephone the Attendance Line (01274 256789) on the first day of absence before 8:20am and provide a reason for their absence.
- If we do not receive communication, you will receive a message from Arbor from one of our team of dedicated Attendance Officers.
- If a learner is absent for a second day and we do not receive communication, you will receive a phone call from one of our Attendance Officers.
- On day three of an absence, a home visit will be made to ascertain the reason for the absence.
- A home visit may be made before this depending on the learner’s attendance record and the nature of the absence.
- On returning to the Academy the learner must take responsibility to catch up on work missed.
Learners’ attendance is monitored against our colour coded system:
Home visits will be conducted by members of the Attendance Team if a learner’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.
Please be aware that Bradford Academy works closely with Bradford Council and will transfer any cases of persistently poor attendance for possible prosecution in either the Family or Magistrates court.
Rewards for excellent attendance
Maintaining an excellent attendance record is a brilliant achievement and one that we are delighted to reward and celebrate.
Secondary
Students who achieve 100% attendance will be reward with:
- Weekly Awards, awarded as part of weekly form time ‘rituals’
- Half termly prize draw for 100% attenders in each year group
- End of year prize draw for 100% attenders in school
- Free Prom tickets or equivalent for Year 11 learners with 100% attendance
- Entry into a price draw for a Limousine for Year 11 learners with 100% attendance
Other rewards:
- All learners with 95+% attendance or better gain an invite to the end of year school trip
Primary
- Attendopoly is used to recognise positive improvements in attendance. Each week, teachers can nominate their class to play Attendopoly. If they are nominated, they can move around our giant Attendopoly board in collective worship and win a class prize:
- biscuits
- ice lollies
- break a rule day
- sit where want day
- ban a lesson
- iPad time
- board game hour
Exceptional Circumstances
We recognise 100% attendance as being a huge achievement and one that needs significant reward and celebration! We do, however, recognise that in some cases, absence from school is unavoidable.
We define ‘exceptional circumstances’ as one-off events such a close family member being critically ill e.g., Grandparents, siblings. In which case we ask you to provide as much information as possible.
The academy considers each application for term-time absence individually. A leave of absence is granted entirely at the Principal’s discretion.
Valid reasons for authorised absence include:
- Illness and medical/dental appointments
- Religious observance where the day is exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the learner’s parents belong
- Traveller learners travelling for occupational purposes– this covers Roma, English and Welsh Gypsies, Irish and Scottish Travellers, Showmen (fairground people) and Circus people, Bargees (occupational boat dwellers) and New Travellers.
Term Time Holidays
The academy policy is not to support the taking of holidays during term time.
In examination years, further complications arise as learners prepare for their examinations which occur at different times or are required to complete internally assessed controlled assessment tasks that contribute to examination grades. These are often to be completed within specific weeks of the year and cannot be accommodated outside these times.
Parents/carers may request leave of absence via the form available from main reception in advance of booking a holiday.
- Approval for absence is at the Principal’s discretion and this is only ever granted in exceptional circumstances.
- The Academy should also be given sufficient time to process the application.
- No more than ten days leave of absence will be granted in one school year.
- Parents/carers are reminded that under the new Government legislation school is not allowed to authorise any requests for family holidays taken during term time and has the right to refuse permission.
- A fixed penalty notice may be issued if this is the case.
Punctuality
Secondary
At Bradford Academy we expect learners to arrive on time for school and to each of their lessons throughout the day. Arrival times for all year groups in secondary is no later than 8.20am. Any secondary learner who arrives late to lessons will be marked as late by the class teacher and sanctioned according to the positive behaviour policy. Any learner late to Form will be awarded 4 behaviour points and sanctioned with a 60minute detention in line with out Behaviour Policy. Any learner who arrives 30minutes after our registers open (8:50am) will be awarded 8 behaviour points and awarded with a 90 minute detention.
Primary
Primary learners should arrive between 8.15am and 8.30am. We will speak to families of learners who are persistently late in primary to ensure that the learner is on time for school each day and they don’t miss crucial learning.
We look to prevent absences, support positive attendance and respond to issues that contribute to poor school engagement.
Post 16 Attendance and Punctuality
Please find below the policy in terms of Post 16 attendance
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