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Attendance

Attendance at school is the fundamental building block for academic success and positive social development and interaction. Research from the Department for Education shows there is a clear correlation between a student’s attendance at school and their attainment at Key Stage 4.

The link between attendance and attainment in an assessment year

Our Expectations

To give our students the greatest chance of academic success and maximising opportunities provided to them by the Thetford Academy, we expect 100% attendance from every student and will do all we can to help them achieve this. We expect students to arrive on time to school and to lessons.

Day	Start time	End of Day
Monday	8.35 am	2.50 pm
Tuesday	8.35 am	3.50 pm
Wednesday	8.35 am	3.50 pm
Thursday	8.35 am	3.50 pm
Friday	8.35 am	2.50 pm

School attendance - When your child needs to attend school - Norfolk County Council

Lateness & Punctuality

School gates open at 8.25am, all students are expected to be at their designated areas by 8.30am ready to start the day promptly at 8.35am.

Registers close at 9.05am for morning registration and 12.20pm for afternoon registration. Any student arriving after these times will be given a U code and it will affect their attendance negatively.

Sanctions are issued for poor punctuality.

If Your Child Is Unable To Attend School

If a student is unable to attend school, you must:-

Contact us as soon as before 8.30am on the first day of absence through the “Student absence” facility (option 1) on the main school switchboard stating your child's name, year group and reason for absence; 01842 754875
Contact the school on each subsequent day that the student is absent from school and inform the school of an expected return date;
Avoid making medical appointments during the school day if possible or ensure they access school prior to or after the appointment takes place. Only the time for the appointment will be authorised. Do not take a full day of absence to attend an appointment.

If a student is absent we will:

Contact parents on the first day of absence if we have not heard from them;
Expect that the student catches up on missed work when s/he returns to school if needed (please note, this is no substitute for attendance and participation in the lessons);
Provide support to students to help them improve their attendance if needed.

When A Student Is Too Ill For School

We ask that our parents use their common sense when deciding whether their child is too ill to attend school. It may be helpful for parents to consider the following questions:

Is my child too ill to undertake the activities of the school day?
Does my child have a more serious condition that could be passed on to other children or staff? For example scarlet fever, chickenpox. Children can normally attend if they are suffering from a common cold.
Would I take a day off work if I had this illness?

If the answer to the questions is no, we would recommend that you send your child to school and communicate with us. We can monitor, support and send home if required.

We do not authorise absence for minor illnesses such as headaches, periods or colds.

Please note – we do not have a 48-hour rule and if students are feeling better expect them to return to school as early as possible.

If a student is absent for 3 or more days, we may request medical evidence. If there is a medical need or circumstance preventing access, we strongly recommend providing documented proof of diagnosed medical conditions. This allows us to better understand and effectively support students' education.

School attendance - When your child can miss school - Norfolk County Council

Is my child too ill for school? - NHS

Support With Attendance

Each year group has a Head of Year and an Assistant Head of Year who work with families to help students maintain a strong attendance record.

If attendance problems are identified, the Assistant Head of Year will contact you in the first instance to encourage improvements and look to identify any potential barriers.

If a student’s attendance falls below certain thresholds, Thetford Academy will use various interventions to support improvement including parent/carer meetings, support plans as part of the Support First Approach. If these are not successful, then parents/carers may be served with a Notice to Improve or ultimately an Education Supervision Order by the Local Authority.

School attendance - Unauthorised absence from school - Norfolk County Council

School attendance - Fixed penalty notice for unauthorised absence - Norfolk County Council

If you have a problem or concern relating to your child’s attendance, raise the issue as soon as possible with your child’s Assistant Head of Year or with the attendance team. Problems can usually be quickly resolved if raised early.

School attendance - Help with getting your child to go to school - Norfolk County Council

EMAIL CONTACTS Yr7 – 11

Year 7 Assistant Head of Year - Clarethomson@inspirationtrust.org

Year 8 Assistant Head of Year - Lucybrown@inspirationtrust.org

Year 9 Assistant Head of Year - Jennawilliams@inspirationtrust.org

Year 10 Assistant Head of Year - Heidiwilson@inspirationtrust.org

Year 11 Assistant Head of Year - Rachelpittman@inspirationtrust.org

Attendance Team

attendance@thetfordacademy.org.uk

Exceptional Circumstances Leave Of Absence (Including Term-Time Holidays)

Requests for leave of absence will only be authorised for certain specific reasons such as an unmovable ceremony for immediate family e.g. a wedding, funeral or graduation. Any other request will usually be declined, and the absence will be recorded as unauthorised. Under certain extenuating circumstances e.g. sporting competitions, absence may be granted.

Medical or dental appointments should, where possible, be scheduled outside of the school day and during end of term holidays. We appreciate the difficulties of arranging some hospital appointments and will usually sanction these. In most cases the time for the appointment will be authorised but expect students to return to school afterwards. Non return will not be authorised.

No term time Holidays are authorised unless there are very exceptional circumstances. A term-time holiday will typically lead to Norfolk County Council issuing a fixed penalty notice (FPN). Non-payment of this could lead to court action.

LINK TO NCC LEAVE OF ABSENCE FORM

LINK TO NCC FPN INFORMATION