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Attendance & Absence
At Teddington School, we are non-apologetic in our approach to attendance. Being in school, on time and in every lesson is fundamental to students achieving their potential. We expect all students to aim for 100% attendance and punctuality. Every day in school matters, and every lesson missed is lost learning that can impact progress and outcomes.
How do I report my child as Absent?
We expect all families to:
- Prioritise excellent attendance and understand their legal responsibility to ensure their child attends school regularly.
- Ensure their child arrives at school on time, every day, ready and prepared to learn.
If your child is absent for any reason, please complete the following Student Absence Form by 08:30 on each day of absence.
Additionally, you can track your child's attendance lesson by lesson using our Arbor App. This app will also provide you with up-to-date statistics on your child's attendance.
What is Good Attendance?
At Teddington School, our minimum expectation for attendance is 97%. Good attendance means being in school consistently, with attendance in the high nineties. We expect all students to aim for 100% attendance, with 97% representing the minimum standard expected.
Teddington Attendance Thermometer
Lateness and Punctuality
Good punctuality is an essential life skill and is vital for future employability. In addition, good punctuality is an indicator that students value school, education and their teachers' input. Lateness disrupts the learning of others and devalues school and education.
The school expects students to be on the school premises by 08:25am and to be in their tutor room or assembly by 08:30am. Any student who arrives later than 08:30 will be marked as late and may receive a late detention. Student who arrive after 09:00am will be marked as U for unauthorised absence. U codes count toward the 10 missed sessions which may incur a Fixed Penalty Notice.
Please note students who arrive between 08:30am and 09:00am must go directly to their tutor group to register. Any students arriving after 09:00am must report to reception and sign in through the Inventory system, providing a reason for their lateness.
However, the school recognises that transport issues can occasionally arise and impact a student's ability to arrive on time. If a student is late due to transport issues, we kindly ask that parents/ carers notify the school by completing the Student Absence Form as soon as possible. This ensures we are aware of the circumstances and the sanction for lateness will not be applied.
Medical Appointments
Medical appointments should not be routinely scheduled during the school day. Every appointment taken during school hours results in missed learning, and we expect families to make every effort to arrange routine appointments outside of school hours.
We recognise that, on occasion, this is unavoidable. Where an appointment must take place during the school day, students are expected to attend school before the appointment and return immediately afterwards wherever possible. A medical appointment should not result in a full day of absence unless this is medically necessary.
Where an appointment is scheduled by an external agency or medical service and families have limited control over the time offered, we encourage students to attend school before and/or after the appointment wherever possible to minimise missed learning.
Attend - Attendance Monitoring
Teddington School uses Attend, our attendance monitoring system, to track students’ attendance, record barriers to attendance and identify when additional support or intervention may be required.
Attend uses automated emails and attendance trigger points to keep families informed when their child’s attendance reaches a particular threshold or becomes a concern.
Encouraging Good Attendance
- FOMO Week – dedicated half termly attendance weeks promoting excellent attendance through rewards, incentives and whole-school activities.
- Inter-tutor group attendance competitions.
- Individual rewards for students with good and excellent attendance.
- School, year group, tutor group and individual attendance targets.
- Regular attendance information shared with families.
- Regular promotion of good attendance through assemblies, tutor time, student bulletins, newsletters and parents’/carers’ evenings.
- Detailed analysis of attendance patterns and trends across individuals, year groups and key student groups.
- Regular attendance reports to Governors.
- Computerised registration systems to monitor attendance at every lesson.
- Arbor Parent App for families to monitor their child’s attendance throughout the school day.
- Automated contact with families when students are absent or late.
- A dedicated School Attendance Officer to monitor attendance and support early intervention.
- Student Welfare Support Officers to work with students experiencing barriers to attendance, learning or engagement with the curriculum.
- Targeted support for students and families where attendance concerns are identified.
How can families help?
Families make a vital contribution to their child's attendance by:
|
Supporting their child to achieve 100% attendance |
| Monitoring their child's attendance by checking the Arbor Parent Portal weekly |
| Avoiding dental/ medical appointments during school time |
| Ensuring their child arrives at school punctually at 08:30am to be in form by 08:40am |
| Encouraging their child to catch up on work missed through absence |
| Informing the school in the morning if their child will be absent |
| Taking holidays during school holidays and NOT in term time |
| Record daily, students' attendance and puctuality accurately every day |
| Track and analyse attendance to identify concerns, patterns and emerging issues early |
| Keep families informed about their child’s attendance and punctuality |
| Act quickly when attendance falls below expectations, working with students and families to secure improvement |
| Work closely with the Local Authority and Education Welfare Officer where attendance concerns require further intervention or statutory action |
| Determine whether absences are authorised or unauthorised in line with statutory guidance |
| Set clear and ambitious attendance expectations, with a minimum expectation of 97% attendance |
| Provide targeted support where barriers to regular attendance are identified |
Authorising Absence
Only the Headteacher or delegate can authorise absence. Government guidelines are specific in what we can and cannot authorise. Please contact the School Attendance Officer Mrs S Baker if you need to seek further clarification.