Attendance

Corby Business Academy has high expectations of student attendance.

We believe encouraging school attendance is one of the most powerful ways you can prepare your child for success, both in school and in life.

Making school attendance and punctuality a priority helps your child to maximise their potential, develop important social skills and avoid dangerous behaviour.

It is a parent/carer responsibility to ensure that their child attends the Academy regularly and on time. Whilst we appreciate that sometimes absence is unavoidable due to illness, medical appointments or leave taken during term time, it will still impact your child’s attendance and in turn their attainment. It is proven that attainment is connected to good attendance and missing crucial time at the Academy could have an impact on any exams that your child may be taking.

Remember that one day’s absence is 5 lessons missed, one week’s absence is 25 lessons missed.

This is valuable learning time that cannot be given back. Your child misses out every time they are absent from the Academy, so consider this and make medical or dental appointments outside of Academy hours where possible.

If your child is having difficulties attending school, please contact your child’s Head of Year as soon as possible, as most issues can be dealt with very quickly.

Leanne Ashley - Assistant Head of Year 7
leanne.ashley@corbybusinessacademy.org

Yassine Elhasbaoui - Head of Year 8
yassine.elhasbaoui@corbybusinessacademy.org

Thomas Peacock - Head of Year 9
thomas.peacock@corbybusinessacademy.org

Shannon Sutton - Head of Year 10
shannon.sutton@corbybusinessacademy.org

Natasha Barstow - Head of Year 11
natasha.barstow@corbybusinessacademy.org

Matt Smith - Head of Sixth Form
matt.smith@corbybusinessacademy.org

We wish to work in partnership with parents/carers and so are seeking your full support in ensuring that your child attends school every day and on time. We are always pleased to work together to resolve any difficulties, and we are committed to improving attendance levels.

Parents/carers should contact the Academy every day of their child's absence before 8.30 a.m.

To report an absence telephone 01536 303120, select option 2 to speak with our Attendance Officer or option 3 to speak with our reception team. Please do not leave a voicemail message and persevere if the phones lines are engaged.

Alternatively you can email the Attendance Officer at s tudentabsence@corbybusinessacademy.org with the following information:

Student Name
Year Group
Absence Reason
Day of Absence
Parent/Carer Name
Parent/Carer Contact Number
Parent/Carer Email Address

If an explanation for an absence is not received, it will be recorded as unauthorised and an unexplained absence text message will be sent from the Academy or a telephone call will be made. A home visit may occur as a follow-up action.

Request for leave in term time

If parents/carers choose to take their child out of school during term time without leave of absence being granted, then it will be recorded as an unauthorised absence on the school register. The Academy will also make a referral to the Attendance and Prosecution service for students who take an unauthorised leave of five days or more. Such a referral may lead to a Fixed Penalty Notice being issued. Parents/Carers who fail to ensure their child’s regular attendance can be fined £60.00 (per parent, per child). If the payment is not made within 21 days, then this increases to £120.00

If parents/carers consider that the request for leave in term time is for exceptional circumstances then a written request should be made to the Principal. Please complete the below Request for Leave in Term Time form and once completed email it to studentabsence@corbybusinessacademy.org.

If a student feels unwell, whilst they are attending the Academy site, they must report to a member of the Senior Leadership Team – this can be done via their class teacher during lesson time or by approaching a Senior Leader directly during break or lunch.

When this occurs a student’s condition and circumstances will then be checked, with the Senior Leader involved then considering the situation and liaising with parents or carers. If it is agreed that the student should go home, this will be clarified with a named adult from our student contact details list.

Students must then be collected by an adult, who is again named on the students contact list. If this is not possible, the Academy will need written confirmation and permission stating the adult who will be acting as the person responsible for supervision and collection.

Please note that students should not be contacting parents or carers directly during school hours via mobile phones, we need to manage safeguarding protocols and ensure that we control records of students arriving on and off site.

In the case of unavoidable medical or dental appointments and in accordance with Brooke Weston Trust policy, we will require medical evidence in order to authorise these absences.

We accept the following as medical evidence that details the time and date of the appointment:

Appointment letter/slip
Text message or online booking confirmation

Please can we be informed of planned medical or dental appointments at least 1 day prior to the appointment. This notification, along with medical evidence, can be emailed to studentabsence@corbybusinessacademy.org.

Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure that their child is not late for school. This can be extremely disruptive to a child’s daily routine; this also means that they miss a considerable amount of valuable learning time.

Minutes late per day	Equivalent of missing
5 Minutes	3.4 school days a year
10 Minutes	6.9 school days a year
15 Minutes	10.3 school days a year
20 Minutes	13.8 school days a year
30 Minutes	20.7 school days a year

Should your child arrive late, it is important that they enter the school via our Main Reception to be signed in. If your child is late due to attending an appointment, we ask for medical evidence provided to support this.

The attendance team regularly monitors children’s punctuality and if a child is identified as being persistently late, parents and carers will be invited in for a Punctuality Surgery meeting to discuss this and a target will be set to reduce lateness.

Ensure your child comes to school every day, on time, equipped and ready to learn. Students should be in the building by 8.35 a.m. and sat down by 8.40 a.m., when morning tutor time begins. Students arriving very late will be marked absent and will require an explanatory note or the absence will remain unauthorised.

Ensure the school has up-to-date addresses and telephone numbers. We will contact you if your child is absent, and you have not contacted the school. This ensures your child’s safety and any truancy is quickly identified. Persistent lateness is monitored and affects the overall attendance figure for each student. Consequences are the same for those students with low attendance.

Parents and carers should be aware that home visits are completed by all Brooke Weston schools as a standard procedure when children are absent from school. Should the Student Care team have any safeguarding concerns for a particular child, home visits will be completed to these families in the first instance. All children will be visited on Day 3 of consecutive absence with no communication. Home visits allow school staff to see the child and discuss the absence with the parents or carers and offer support if it is required.

Amy Harris – Assistant Principal for Student Care, Safeguarding and Attendance
amy.harris@corbybusinessacademy.org

Elliott Hanna – Attendance Officer
elliott.hanna@corbybusinessacademy.org

Laura McCluskey – Attendance Support
laura.mccluskey@corbybusinessacademy.org

Fixed Penalty Notice

The Government’s priority is to ensure that every child attends school regularly and where attendance is deemed to be unsatisfactory, that it is addressed promptly. There is clear evidence that any absence can and will have an impact on attainment. It is therefore important that schools maintain good attendance levels and that parents/carers support this by ensuring their children attend school regularly.

What is a penalty notice?

A penalty notice (PN) is an alternative to prosecution and requires the parent(s) to pay a fixed amount as a fine for their child’s irregular attendance at school. It is issued per parent, per child.

Who issues them?

In Northamptonshire the Local Authority issues them through the Educational Inclusion and Partnership Team following notification from the school.

When are they used?

When a pupil has a minimum of 10 school sessions recorded as unauthorised in a 6-school week period; (a school day is two sessions -morning and afternoon) or
When a pupil has a series of unauthorised absences leading to irregular attendance

This includes:

Any absence marked in the register as unauthorised.
Persistent late arrival at school after the register has been taken and is recorded as an unauthorised absence.
An absence in term time which has not been authorised by the head teacher. The Government has directed that head teachers may only grant leave in exceptional circumstances.
PN's can also be used during the first 5 days of exclusion. Parents are made aware of the consequences by letter when a child is excluded from school.

Penalty notice costs

When you pay	Amount to pay
Payment within 21 days	£60.00
Payment within 22 days and 28 days	£120.00

If you don’t pay within the 28 days the Local Authority will consider instigating a prosecution in the Magistrates Court for the offence of irregular school attendance. If proven this could result in a criminal conviction, fine of up to £1000 per parent per child and/or a parenting order or a community service order and also costs.

Please note

If the school refers a period of absence that is longer than 15 consecutive school days, the Educational and Inclusion Partnership team may consider that a penalty notice is not appropriate.

In these instances, the matter may proceed to a prosecution. If a parent knows that their child is failing to attend school regularly and there is reasonable justification for not ensuring that their child attends then it is for the parent or carers to prove that reasonable justification.

What are the timings of the school day?

When are the school holidays?

The school term dates are published on our website. You can find them here.

What should I do if my child is ill?

If your child is unwell and unable to attend school, you must inform the school as soon as possible (before 8.30 a.m.).

Alternatively you can email the Attendance Officer at s tudentabsence@corbybusinessacademy.org with the following information;

Student Name
Year Group
Absence Reason
Day of Absence
Parent/Carer Name
Parent/Carer Contact Number
Parent/Carer Email Address

My child has a medical appointment – what should I do?

We accept the following as medical evidence that details the time and date of the appointment:

Appointment letter/slip
Text message or online booking confirmation.

I have received a letter, or been invited into school, about attendance. Should I be worried?

If we have written to you or invited you into school for a meeting, it is because we want to work in partnership with you to improve your child's attendance. Poor attendance affects your child socially as well as academically and we will discuss what we can do to help you and your child to ensure they are coming into school regularly. We ask that parents/carers do their best to work with us so that any issues can be resolved as quickly as possible and do not escalate.

My child does not want to come to school. What should I do?