News
Attendance rises by 1.55%
Last year we had a real drive to improve attendance at school. There is a clear link between attendance and attainment and some of our pupils were not getting the most out of their schooling. A really worrying fact was that some pupils thought that 90% attendance was good when this is actually half a day off school EVERY week!!! Over the course of a school year that adds up to 4 weeks or 120 lessons missed.
In order to improve attendance we had to make pupils aware of what their own attendance was. Each pupil now has an attendance target and we try to focus on the positive actions of our students. We have a reward system for pupils who have “good” attendance and we highlight their achievements. Any form who has 100% for the week gets a non-uniform day the next week which has proved a popular incentive to students. There is a display board in the dining room where all our attendance details are placed each week so that forms can see how they compare to the other groups in their year and how their year group compares to others in the school.
The introduction of our text messaging system “Keep Kids Safe” has also had an impact as we can now contact all parents to tell them that their child is missing from school or has been late to school. Occasionally parents are unsure about when a holiday has ended and again we can text parents about this. Parents are reminded that they can send a text message to school on this system about any aspect of their child’s education and we will get back to you as soon as possible. This two way process means that home and school can work together so that pupils are safe and are in school fulfilling their potential.
Holidays in term time was also an issue for us as a school and I would like to thank you for your support in this matter. We were shocked to learn that 4 year groups had totted up nearly 6 years of absence just from holidays!! These will now only be authorised if pupils have a minimum attendance of 93%.
We are aiming for even better attendance figures this year and so far are on track to succeed. This positive start must continue and the Achievement Coordinators are working hard with their groups to ensure that this happens. The rewards such as the ever popular Christmas disco at the “Roxy” are now linked to attendance, and behaviour, and will be by invitation only. This is at the request of pupils themselves who have a much higher sense of justice than we adults ever give them credit for.
I would like to offer my congratulations to every pupil who achieved their target last year. A special mention goes to those pupils who had 100% for the whole year, a fantastic record to aim for. In addition I would like to thank all parents for their support. Let’s hope that this year we add another 1.55% at least to our attendance figures.
Mrs H Aaron
Deputy Head
- Chart 1 (Attendance
and Attainment) shows that very few pupils with and attendance below 85% achieve 5 A* to C grade GCSEs
- Nearly 70% of all pupils that attended for 95% of the school year achieved 5 A* to C grade GCSEs.
- Nearly 70% of pupils that had less than 10 days off in Year 11 achieved 5 A* to C grade GCSEs.
- Chart 1 (Attendance and Attainment) shows the big jump between pupils with 90 – 95 % attendance and pupils with 95 – 100% attendance. Roughly twice as many pupils with 95 – 100% attendance achieved 5 A* to C grade GCSEs as those with 90 – 95% attendance.
- This translates to 10 more days in school in Year 11 giving you twice as much chance to achieve 5 A* to C grade GCSEs
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