At Hillside High School we recognise that to achieve our mission statement of achieving ‘Excellence in the heart of the Community’.
Going to school regularly is important for your child’s future. Parents are responsible for making sure their children receive full-time education. Talking to your child and their teachers could help solve any problems if your child does not want to go to school.
Regular school attendance
Good attendance shows post-16 colleges and future potential employers that your child is reliable.
Hillside High school records details of all children’s attendance and absence from school. We do so at the beginning of morning and afternoon sessions. If your child is absent, you must inform the school immediately.
The school will record the absence and the Local Authority will receive this information for each child. The Department of Education also receives annual attendance data for the school.
Your responsibilities as a parent
By law, all children of compulsory school age must receive a suitable full-time education. For most parents, this means registering their child at a school. Although some parents choose to make other arrangements to provide a suitable, full-time education.
Once your child is registered at Hillside High School, the parent is legally responsible for making sure they attend on a regular basis. If your child does not attend school on a regular basis, you could be subject to a fine or be prosecuted in court.
If you are unable to attend school your parent/guardian will need to ring the school office on 0151 525 2630 between 7.30-8.30am.The call will be received by one of our admin team who will discuss the reason for your absence.
* Dependant on the reason and your current attendance there will be some challenge as to why you are not able to come to school.
Each day at 9.30 am the pastoral team meet and establish who is absent and the reason why. Please see the escalated days approach below.
Dependant again on your attendance and the reason for your absence the most likely outcome will be a member of the pastoral team visiting your home to discuss how we can get you back into school with as limited time absent as possible.
We are adopting an Escalated Days Approach from September. This will provide pupils and parents clear guidance about the steps we will take to improve attendance at an individual level.
Telephone Numbers
There are times when Hillside will need to contact your parent/guardians for a range of issues, including absence, so it is essential that the school has at least two up to date contact numbers at all times.
Understanding Types of Absences
Every half day absence has to be classified by the school (not by your parent/guardians) as either authorised or unauthorised. Information about the cause of any absence is always required from your parents/guardians, preferably in writing.
Authorised
Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from school for a good reason such as illness, medical/ dental appointments which unavoidably fall in school time, or emergencies.
Unauthorised
Unauthorised absences are those which the school does not consider reasonable. This type of absence can lead to the Local Authority using sanctions and/or legal proceedings. This includes:
Any problems with regular attendance are best sorted out between school, your parent/guardian and you. If you are reluctant to attend, your parent/guardians should not condone your absence or give in to pressure to excuse you from attending school, they must contact school immediately to discuss.
Medical Evidence
The school reserves the right to insist on medical evidence in order to code any absence as
Holidays
We do not authorise any holidays during term time. Exceptionally, if you and your family are going on holiday, you must complete a holiday request form which can be obtained from your Progress Leader or Miss Elliott in Attendance. This must be returned to Miss Elliott well in advance of you taking the holiday.
Hillside High School has developed the Be Here Strategy using the 5 Foundations of Effective Attendance Practice framework as a basis, this is modelled on the work of Professor Katherine Weare.
The emphasis is on developing a school culture and climate which builds a sense of connectedness and belonging to ensure all children can attend school and thrive. The approach ensures we prioritise building solid working relationships with children / parents prior to any escalation. The staged approach we use ensures we identify triggers early that can lead to poor attendance issues such as mental health issues, lack of trust, communication and relationship breakdowns and the possible lack of networking opportunities both internal (in-school) and external (external agencies).
The aims and objectives of the Be Here Attendance Strategy are to:
We create welcoming environments to allow all children to gain a sense of belonging and ultimately achieve academically through regular school attendance.
The school policy is translated into practise through the processes and systems we follow. The Escalated Days approach supports children at each stage, parents who do not engage with support understand why, at times, we must follow this process.
All staff receive attendance training to support the whole school approach, they understand their role in improving attendance. Certain staff are identified to engage in specialist training to continue to support families and children who work with external partners.
We use data information to support children as this allows us to understand the groups, and individuals, who require specific programmes of intervention. Reviewing each programme allows us to understand the effectiveness of support and change what is not working.
Finally, we train and support all staff to understand the ‘root cause’ of concerns. Staff use the wider curriculum to allow all children to feel valued and accept themselves. We celebrate attendance success and ensure children returning from long absence receive a planned transition.
DFE: Working Together To Improve Attendance 2022.
From September 2022 the DFE: Working Together To Improve Attendance paper will replace all previous guidance on school attendance except for statutory guidance for parental responsibility measures. The Secretary of State has committed to it becoming statutory when parliamentary time allows (this will be no sooner than September 2023).
Be Here Strategy mapped against DFE Expectations.
Hillside High
Breeze Hill
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 9NU
Tel: 0151 525 2630
Email: admin@hillsidehigh.co.uk
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