Attendance
Information for parents and carers on the importance of attendance and the attendance process:
The Purbeck School is committed to ensuring that all families understand the importance of high attendance. Attendance in school is vital for academic success. It is our duty to consistently strive to achieve a goal of 100% attendance for all students. We will work hard to provide a safe and welcoming environment for your child and will monitor attendance closely.
Absence
Pupils must arrive in school before 8.40am. If your child will be absent, parents must notify the school on the first day of absence and then each day thereafter. To report your child's absence, please complete our Pupil Absence Form as early as possible.
The school will contact parents on a daily basis if you fail to inform the school of an absence. The school must be notified of the reason for a child’s absence in order to safeguard the child and protect their educational well-being.
The NHS provides this advice for parents on whether your child is too ill to attend school.
We only authorise 3 days of illness, without receiving medical evidence. Otherwise, absence will be marked as unauthorised. Please email us medical evidence, such as a screenshot of a medical appointment or photograph of prescribed medication clearly showing the student’s name and the date it was prescribed.
Term-time leave of absence
You can only allow your child to miss school if:
- They are too ill to attend.
- You have advance permission from the school.
Term time holidays under any circumstances are not considered exceptional and therefore cannot be authorised. Holidays taken during term time can result in Holiday Penalty Notices being issued. Therefore, please think carefully before taking your child out of school for a term time holiday. Penalty fines are payable by both parents and for each child within the school.
Medical appointments should be made outside of school hours. If this isn’t possible, then please inform us in advance with a screenshot with full details.
To make an absence request, you must submit a formal request to the school at least two weeks before you arrange for your child to have time away. Please complete our Request for Leave of Absence form.
Punctuality
At The Purbeck School, we take timekeeping very seriously. It is important to ensure the students are obtaining the maximum benefit from their education. Lateness is monitored carefully by the school and contributes towards a student’s attendance. Consequences are set for students who are late to school and late to lessons.
Contacts
If you have any questions with regards to attendance, then please do contact us at attendance@purbeck.dorset.sch.uk.
The importance of good attendance
Please read more on the implications of poor attendance on achievement – click here.
Pupils with poor attendance are more likely to experience…
- Gaps in knowledge and skills, leading to confusion
- Difficulty making friends
- Loss of confidence and/or self-esteem
- Increase in anxiety
- Lower GCSE grades
Attending school can be a passport to a child’s future into adulthood, independence and achieving one's ambition.
Attendance Awareness Session
If a child has an attendance level of 90%, they will have missed one day a fortnight in school. Over a school year this will represent four weeks of absence. If this level of absence were maintained for a five-year period, it would mean half a school year would have been missed.
Please regularly check your child’s attendance using our SIMS Parent App.
The Purbeck School Attendance Strategy
At The Purbeck School, we will do all we reasonably can to achieve the highest possible attendance – the expectation is that we will “listen, understand, empathise and support – but do not tolerate”. We have a very clear attendance strategy that we follow.