At Oldbury Academy we expect good attendance and punctuality from our students. Absence from school can impact on attainment, emotional health and well-being and can also be a risk to the safeguarding of students.

We consider an attendance rate of at least 95% to be good. Persistent Absence (PA) is defined as an attendance rate of 90% or below. Pupils who have missed more than 50% of school sessions are severely absent (SA).

Adults at home are responsible for making sure that their children attend school regularly and we will work with parents to support them with this responsibility.

In choosing Oldbury Academy parents agree to support and help us maintain the following high standards of uniform throughout their child’s time at the school.

We are grateful for the support of our parents in helping us achieve good attendance to school.

Adults at home can monitor attendance of their children through Edulink.

If you need to report an absence:

The parent/carer must notify the school on each day of any unplanned absence by 8:50am or as soon as practically possible

The school register is taken each morning at 8:40am. Students will be marked late if they are not in their form room for morning registration.

Form time is an important part of the school day where key messages and content will be shared including year assemblies, our character curriculum, literacy and numeracy development as well as wide range of other activities.

Should any student arrive to school after 9:20am, they will be marked with a ‘U’ code – this means they arrived after the morning registers have closed and this will be counted as a session absence (Half a school day’s attendance).

We strive to provide a welcoming, caring environment, where each member of the school community feels valued and secure. Children, however, are sometimes reluctant to attend school. In these instances, the school and adults at home will work together to ensure that any barriers to attending school are removed.

All interventions by the school will be specific and sensitive to the individual needs and circumstances of the student. We will be proactive in supporting families when attendance begins to be a concern and will meet informally with the student and their family to identify any barriers to attending school.

At times it may be deemed necessary that a more formal meeting will be held in order to discuss concerns about attendance, and this will be followed by an Attendance Action Plan and planned review points where the school and adults at home will evaluate the impact of the action plan.

Headteachers are now only allowed to authorise any leave of absence when an application has been made in advance, and it is felt to be for an exceptional circumstance. The annual family holiday would not be deemed an exceptional circumstance.

A letter from a primary parent or carer must be sent to the Headteacher at least two weeks before and must be agreed to before the leave begins. This is not an entitlement and holidays taken in term time will adversely affect your child’s attendance record and their academic progress.

If a leave of absence is taken during term time without permission, this will be marked in the school register as an unauthorised absence, and further action may be taken. The school works closely with Education Inclusion Service to monitor attendance.

It is important that good attendance is recognised. At Oldbury Academy attendance is at the forefront of our rewards program. Students with good and improved attendance will be able to access Dominos pizza, rewards trips, postcards and recognition texts. Our half termly celebration assemblies are a key focus to celebrate good attendance with our Love to Shop vouchers.