OUR UNIFORM
OUR UNIFORM
OUR UNIFORM
ATTENDANCE
We are committed to ensuring all our pupils can nurture their multitude of talents and interests to the highest standards, as well as academic excellence. Regular attendance is essential in order for pupils to achieve their full potential. It is the essential foundation to positive outcomes. Pupils get the most out of their school experience, including high attainment, wellbeing, and wider life chances with good attendance.
Each week, the class with the highest attendance is awarded the honour of hosting Larry the Seagull or Barry The Lobster.
Larry and Barry are presented in assembly to the winning class, and becomes an honorary pupil for the week. Check out the blog below to see what fun they have at school each week.
The winning class are also awarded with a delicious tray of flapjack to eat on a Friday. A bonus prize of milkshake is also awarded to the class that achieve 100% in a week.
House points are now up for grabs too. The house with the highest attendance is awarded a valuable 10 points towards their total. It is certainly making a big difference to the leader board!
Keep an eye out for our FLASH ATTENDANCE AWARDS! On key days, classes with the highest attendance get to skip the lunch queue for an early lunch!
For more information, download our School Attendance Policy
If you would like some advice and support with your child's attendance, , please contact the school Attendance Lead, Amy Le Bredonchel.
You can also talk to Emma Ravenscroft, our Social, Emotional and Mental Health Lead. Visit our website page for links and advice to support your child's mental health: Mental Health and Well Being,
The Education Hub is a really helpful site provided by the Department for Education.
Leaves of Absence
Regular attendance is also a legal requirement and parents are responsible for ensuring that their child attends school regularly. Following guidance from the Department for Education to improve school attendance, it is expected that head teachers should ‘only grant leaves of absence in exceptional circumstances’ and ‘it is unlikely a leave of absence will be granted for the purposes of a family holiday.’
Therefore, with the support of the Governing Body, I am writing to inform you of our plans to ask Devon County Council to issue a penalty notice in cases of absence when a pupil has been taken on a holiday during term time. This is in line with the Devon County Council Code of Conduct for school absence: penalty notices.
From September 2023, we will be continuing to unauthorise any holidays during term time. However, a penalty notice will then be issued if a pupil has had a minimum of 10 sessions (1 session equates to half a day) of unauthorised absence for a holiday.
Penalty notices are issued at £120 per parent, per child. However, if paid within 21 days of being issued the cost is reduced to £60 per parent, per child.
From September 2024, the first penalty notice issued to a parent in respect of a particular pupil will be charged at £160 if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days. A second penalty notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil is charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days.
For further information about penalty notices, please see the information and FAQs included with this letter. You can also visit the Devon County Council website page: School absence penalty notices.
If parents have exceptional circumstances that require their child to have time off school, they should complete one of the S2 Absence Request forms that can be collected from the school office. This does not include a term time holiday.