How Absence is Followed up

Following up unexplained absence: Where any student we expect to attend school does not attend, or stops attending, without reason, the school will follow the unauthorised attendance procedure.

• We take our safeguarding responsibilities very seriously and if a student is absent at morning registration without contact from a parent/carer to explain the absence, the school will contact parents/carers to inform them of their child’s absence. 
• The attendance team or Year Managers will contact parents/carers in the first instance. An email will then be sent to parents/carers if no contact can be made.
• Parents/carers can utilise the school absence email, Arbor attendance or the attendance school phone number.
• The attendance team/Year Managers/Safeguarding team may carry out a home visit to ascertain the reasons for absence and confirm there are no safeguarding issues. Unannounced visits will take place if there are 3 days absence with no contact made.
• Where a student’s absence is cause for concern, the school will contact parents/carers and invite the parents/carers into school to discuss and co-produce an attendance plan with them to support improvement.
• Where relevant, unexplained absences and other concerns may be reported to other agencies to gain support for the family to improve attendance and remove barriers.  This includes Early Help, Social Care, Youth Workers and other agencies such as IDAS.
• Where support is not appropriate, not successful, or not engaged with families may be issued a notice to improve, penalty notice or other legal intervention as appropriate.