Holidays & Attendance - The Dean Trust Ardwick School

Dean Trust Ardwick Attendance Policy

Mrs Munby is the attendance officer at Dean Trust Ardwick. She will work closely with pupils, and their families, to improve attendance. Parents and carers should contact Mrs Munby for any concerns regarding attendance. For more information on the below, please see our Attendance Policy.

Attendance Officer

Mrs Munby

0161 972 2988 ext. 3045

Attendance Rewards

The rewards system recognises pupils with excellent attendance.
Pupils with 100% attendance in each year group enter into a draw to win chocolates and £10 gift vouchers each half term.
The attendance league is an interform competition and the winning form attends the Dean Trust Ardwick cinema each half term.

Attendance Banding

If a pupil’s attendance falls below 98%, it then becomes a concern to us and we start to monitor their attendance closely.
The attendance bands indicate the support that is put into place for pupils, parents and carers to help remedy the problem.
An attendance banding letter is sent to all parents and carers each term.

Pupils arriving late to school

Registration begins at 8.40am and pupils arriving after this time will be marked as present but arriving late.
A sanction is given on the day of lateness for pupils who are late to school without good reason and parents will be notified of this by text message.
The register will close at 9.10am and pupils arriving after the close of register will be recorded as late (code U).
This will count as an absence to school for the morning session and statutory action may be taken where appropriate.

Pupil absence

Occasionally pupils feel unwell, but we expect your child to come into school unless they are so poorly that they need to see the doctor.
Parents /Carers should ring the school as soon as possible after 8am and before 8.30am with an explanation of the absence – 0161 972 2988 option 1 to report pupil absence.
Parents may also use the School Gateway app to contact the school.
When the pupil returns to school medical evidence will be required in some cases.

Medical Appointments

Parents are advised where possible to make medical appointments outside of the school day (e.g. doctors, dentist).
Where this is not possible, and appointments can only be made during the school day, pupils should still attend school.
If the medical appointment is during the school day, school should be notified in advance and evidence must be provided.
Pupils should attend school for part of the day and return afterwards, for example: for a medical appointment that occurs in the morning, the child would be expected to return to school in the afternoon, and vice versa.

Unauthorised absence

If we do not receive a satisfactory reason for your child’s absence it will be unauthorised.
If a pupil has 5 days (10 sessions) of unauthorised absence, statutory action will be requested from Manchester City Council.
A Penalty Notice gives the parent the opportunity to discharge themselves of their legal responsibility if a £120 fine is paid within 28 days, reduced to £60 if paid within 21 days of the date the Notice was issued.

Leave of absence

Dean Trust Ardwick may not grant any leave of absence to pupils during term time unless they consider there to be ‘exceptional circumstances’.
Requests for a leave of absence due to exceptional circumstances must be in writing to the headteacher in advance of the event.
A leave of absence is granted entirely at the Headteachers discretion.
Retrospective requests will not be considered and therefore will result in the absence being categorised as unauthorised.
Any leave of absence requests for religious observance must also be in writing to the headteacher in advance of the event.
Any requests for holidays during term time will not be authorised.

Attendance Home visits

Attendance home visits are made for pupils that are absent, especially when there has been no contact from home when a child is absent.
Home visits can also take place to support the safeguarding of pupils.

Attendance Banding and Support