Regular and punctual school attendance is important. Pupils need to attend school regularly if they are to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them by law. The Ellesmere Port College fully recognises its responsibilities to ensure pupils are in school and on time, therefore having access to learning for the maximum number of days and hours. Registers are completed electronically each lesson in addition to lesson 1 where morning registration takes place and Academic Review when the afternoon registration takes place.
Absence
All absences should, of course, be kept to an absolute minimum. If your child is ill and unable to attend the College, please contact us by telephone as soon as possible. Although parents/carers have the legal responsibility for ensuring their child’s good attendance, the Principal and Governors at our school are committed to working closely with parents, other professionals and agencies to ensure that all pupils are encouraged and supported to develop good attendance habits. Regular attendance and good punctuality at school is expected. The reasons for this are obvious: pupils learn best and receive most from College when they are actually there. This issue is highlighted in the Home/School Agreement which all parents are asked to sign at the beginning of each year and also within other regular communications between home and
school.
Support
Any pupil whose absence falls below 97% will be noted by the Head of Learning and the pupil will be placed on the ‘Attendance Strategy’ which is a graduated intervention system. This is to encourage improved attendance and where needed to put support systems in place with additional agencies, to address persistent absence issues.
Holidays during term time
The Principal may not grant leave of absence during term time unless there are ‘exceptional circumstances’. The Principal will also determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if the leave is granted. From this perspective leave of absence in term time is no longer a parental right and will only be authorised at the Principal’s discretion. Under DFE guidelines the school will notify the Local Authority if a parent/s takes leave of absence without the Principal’s permission. In these cases, the G code will be used on the register to show this absence is unauthorised.
Lateness
Pupils who arrive after the school gate closes will have to enter the school through the main entrance where they will be met by their year group Learning Coach to register/or sign a late register at the reception desk. Pupils who arrive late to school will receive a late mark which will result in them receiving a same day after school detention for 30 minutes.
Medical Visits
Children who have to leave for any reason throughout the day should be signed out at the main office by their parent/carer or appropriate adult. This is strongly discouraged. Parents are requested to make dental or
medical appointments outside of school hours. Occasionally, pupils will need to leave the College during the day for an urgent visit to the doctor, hospital or dentist. They must bring a note from you to show to their Form Tutor during Academic Review.