King’s Leadership Academy is a successful school and your child plays their part in making it so.  At King’s we encourage all members of our extended community to aim for excellence.  For our children to gain the greatest benefit from their education it is vital that they are in school and on time every day.  We are very grateful to our parents who support us in achieving this.

Absence affects a child’s chances of gaining good grades at GCSE.  If a child has more than 20 days absence a year, they will have reduce their chances of success in exams by 75%, this is important because success in exams paves the way to success in life.  Government figures indicate that any student with 95% attendance or less will drop a full grade in examinations.

It is very important therefore that parents or carers ensure that their child attends regularly.  The summary below highlights key points from our attendance policy.

“Attendance of 98% and punctuality of 99% are outstanding.”  Department for Education Consultant DfE – 2012

Attendance information for parents

Parent Area

Letters & Publications

Safeguarding

• Contact school by telephone before 8:20 advising reason for absence and possible return date (01925 817939)
• Provide notes to academic tutor stating reason for absence period on first day returning to school
• Provide medical evidence if your child’s attendance is below 97% (For example, Doctor’s note, appointment card or prescription bottle/tablets)
• Ensure your child completes any work missed

• As well as excellent attendance being very important to a student’s academic progress, so too is good punctuality.
• Gets the day off to a good start and puts you in a positive frame of mind so you can make the most of your learning opportunities.
• Leads to better achievement because you attend the WHOLE of your classes.
• Helps develop a sense of responsibility for yourself and towards others and is a sign of good character.
• It is respectful to your teacher and classmates and builds good habits for later in life when your employer pays you to be in on time.
• Research shows that attendance and punctuality are the single most important factors in school success.

Poor punctuality is not acceptable.  If your child is late (after 8:20) they will be required to make this time up.  They may be required to attend an after school detention if they are late more than once in a week.

We cannot legally authorise leave of absence.  Taking leave of absence will affect your child’s educational future as much as any other absence.  It is our legal obligation to issue fixed penalty notices to any parent or carer taking their child out of school for a holiday.  Remember that any savings you think you may make by taking a holiday in school time are offset by the cost to your child’s education.

We understand there may be times throughout a child’s education when they have to attend dental, orthodontic, doctor or hospital appointments during the school day.
It is important to understand that medical appointments do affect attendance and should be avoided where ever possible.
When making appointments, please ask for times either after school, early in the morning (before 8:45) or late afternoon (after 2:30) as this will help the overall attendance and reduce disruption to learning. It is important that pupils return to school after their appointment, wherever possible.
All medical and dental appointments need to be notified in advance by letter. As a legal requirement, evidence of the appointment must be provided e.g. appointment card, compliment slip, hospital or orthodontic letter.