Attendance & Punctuality
Please watch this short video from Ms Stanghon about why attendance in school is so important.
Research has shown regular attendance and good punctuality are crucial factors in pupils achieving their full potential. Deptford Green School is committed to providing a full and efficient education to all and encourages all children to strive for excellence. Therefore, for a pupil to reach their full educational achievement, a high level of attendance is essential.
We work in partnership with parents and carers and we will always seek your full support in ensuring that your child attends school every day and on time. We are always pleased to work together with parents/carers in resolving any difficulties, but we are also committed to improving attendance levels at Deptford Green School.
The target attendance figure for all pupils from now on is a minimum of 97%. Based on current attendance figures your child will be placed in one of the following groups below. Your child will be informed of their Attendance Group regularly.
- Group 1: No Concern - Green Group
- The child attends for 97% - 100% of the time.
- Group 2: Concern - Yellow Group
- The child attends for 95% - 96.9% of the time.
- Group 3: Risk of Underachievement - Amber Group
- The child attends for 93% - 94.9% of the time.
- Group 4: Severe Risk of Underachievement – Pink Group
- The child attends for 90% - 92.9% of the time.
- Group 5: Extreme Risk of Underachievement – Red Group
- The child attends for 0% - 89.9% of the time
Regular attendance is not just a legal requirement, but it is vital for pupils to maximise their learning and achieve full potential. There are several important steps that you can take to ensure your child maintains a high level of attendance:
-
Ensure your child attends every day, on time, equipped and ready to learn. Tutor time begins at 8.40am and all pupils need to be onsite by 8.35am.
-
If your child is ill or absent for any reason, inform the school via the StudyBugs app or by ringing us. You should do this before 8.30 on the first day of absence and for every subsequent absence.
-
Ensure we have up-to-date addresses and telephone numbers. We will contact you by text or by telephone if your child is absent and you have not contacted the school. This ensures that safeguarding issues or truancy is quickly identified.
-
If you wish to check that your child has arrived at the school, contact reception, your child’s Pastoral Leader or the safeguarding and attendance team. They will inform you if your child has been registered.
-
If no contact is received regarding the absence, it is recorded as unauthorised. Ultimately, the school is responsible for deciding if the absence is acceptable or not. Only genuine absence will be authorised. You will be asked to provide medical evidence if your child has a poor attendance record.
-
Ensure that medical appointments are made outside of school time.
-
Avoid trivial absence such as, ‘buying new shoes’. This would not be accepted as a reasonable absence.
-
Holidays should not be taken in school time. Holidays will not be authorised during term time unless authorised by the Headteacher.
-
Respond to School letters or telephone calls regarding attendance and punctuality.
-
Contact your child’s Tutor or Pastoral Leader if you are experiencing difficulty in getting your child into school. We are here to help you and we will do anything we can to ensure your child attends school.
Thank you for working in partnership with us to achieve the highest possible levels of attendance and punctuality at Deptford Green School.
Ms Stanghon
Deputy Head Teacher, Deptford Green School.
If parents have any concerns about attendance or lateness, please do not hesitate to contact the Deputy Attendance Officers, Amy Coffey and Lynn Ascott or your child’s Head of Year. We are here to help!
Please visit our policies section to read our attendance policy Policies Section
To request absence during term-time (exceptional circumstances only) please complete the form on link below: