Attendance

Face-to-face education in school is important in helping students to fulfil their potential. At Kingsway Park High School, we believe students should be in class with their teachers and peers and enjoy the benefits that brings. Being in school every day is so important to a young person's achievement, wellbeing and wider development. Parents and carers have a legal responsibility to ensure their young person receives a high-quality education, achieved through consistent school attendance. 

Please see how attendance is explained here.

How to report student absence

Attendance is key to safeguarding your young person and reporting absence is essential in us working together to safeguard them. Should your young person be absent for any reason, you must immediately call the Attendance Officer on 01706 716763 to report any absence. There is the option to leave a voicemail. Please provide as much information as possible regarding the reason for the absence including your yong person's name, form group, how long they will be absent for, why they will be absent and send in any proof of absence such as medical notes to attendance@kingswaypark.org. You can expect a call from a member of staff every day that your young person is absent from school. If you have informed school of your young person's absence but they have not attended school up to 5 days in a row, you can expect a home visit from a member of staff. If you have not informed school of your young person's absence and they have not attended school up to 3 days in a row, you can expect a home visit from a member of staff. 

Expected attendance

At KPHS, we strive for every student to have 100% attendance and expect 97% of attendance. 

Persistently absent students - Concerning 

Student attendance becomes a concern when it dips below the expected 97%. When student attendance begins to near 90%, parents and carers can expect a call from the Attendance team, Head of Year, Safeguarding team or SEND team to invite you in for a meeting to discuss your young person's attendance with a view to supporting you and your young person in improving their attendance. Your young person will be classed as a Persistently Absent student. 

Severely absent students - Critically concerning

Student attendance becomes critical, and a safeguarding issue, when attendance is below 50%. If your young person's attendance is this low, they will be classed a Severely Absent student and we must work together to put an attendance plan in place. The attendance plan aims to identify any barriers in attendance, provide support to break down these barriers and agree actions for improving attendance. This is reviewed on a fortnightly basis. Failure to improve attendance, whilst on the plan, will result in the plan being escalated to the year group Senior Leadership staff member. 

Here is how many days and hours of learning your child will miss for every absence. 

As of 19th August, the new statutory guidance from the DfE, 'Working Together to Improve School Attendance' came into action. There have been many changes, including changes to the Penalty Notice process. We have created these posters for you to help you understand the changes.