Attendance

At Biddick Academy we set an expectation for all students to maintain their attendance at 100%. Throughout the school year, we recognise and reward excellent and improving attendance through weekly tutor group prizes and end of term celebrations.

The table below highlights the impact that absence has on children missing out on valuable lesson time. Higher attendance supports outstanding GCSE results with national data indicating that

• 80% of students achieved at least 5 GCSE’s including Maths and English when attendance was 96% or above.
• 53% of students achieved 5 GCSE’s including Maths and English when attendance was below 90%.

All students will receive and discuss their attendance weekly with their Form Tutor. All students must take responsibility for recording their attendance on the ‘Stay on Green’ page within their planner. Parents/Carers are encouraged to take this opportunity to monitor their child’s attendance and to work with the Attendance Team in order to maintain excellent attendance or work collaboratively for improvement.

The Attendance Team work closely with parents/carers to support excellent attendance however, we take into consideration that on occasion children may not be able to attend the academy due to; illness, bereavement or medical appointments. We ask all parents/carers to contact the Attendance Team at the earliest opportunity to report absences either by telephone or email.

Telephone: 0191 511 1600 – Option 1

Email: attendance@biddickacademy.com

Attendance Manager – Mr T Howe

Pupil and Family Support Lead – Ms L Mooney

We encourage all appointments to be arranged outside of the school day, however, if children need to leave the Academy to attend a medical appointment, parents/carers are required to provide evidence i.e. appointment card or letter which the student must present before being authorised to leave. Where possible, we ask all parents/carers to collect their children when leaving for an appointment. However, if the student is to leave the Academy on their own, we will seek authorisation from all parents/carers before they are allowed to leave.

By law, all schools must record and monitor attendance. Biddick Academy has a legal duty to address and explore reasons for poor attendance. From September 2021 we aim to further develop positive relationships with parents/carers, particularly during attendance improvement planning. We have revised Attendance Support by encouraging students to take responsibility for improving their own attendance with the support of parent/carers and the Attendance Team. We have also introduced an Attendance Intervention Plan. Our Attendance Officer,  will work together with parents/carers where children have historical concerns regarding attendance. We aim to work collaboratively to remove barriers and provide additional support when needed.

As we aim to work collaboratively with parents/carers to maintain excellent attendance for all our students, there are occasions where we do have to work with Together for Children (Sunderland Local Authority Children Services). For students and parents/carers where Attendance Support or an Intervention Plan have been unsuccessful and attendance continues to be of concern, we are obliged to refer any case where unauthorised absence has occurred to the Local Authority Attendance Team. This can result in a Fixed Penalty Notice.

We are always available for telephone contact, email and face to face discussions for any concerns regarding attendance or additional support.

Holidays in Term Time

Biddick Academy will not authorise a holiday within term time. We recognise that financial pressures and work commitments sometimes make it difficult to take holidays outside of school time. However, we ask for your full support in ensuring that child is in school all of the time to access an outstanding education.

If there are exceptional circumstances, applications can be made to the Headteacher in advance. However, please be mindful that parents/carers can be fined for taking their child on holiday during term time.