Attendance and Punctuality

Here at Winterhill School, we believe that regular attendance is fundamental to effective teaching and learning. Students will not learn if they aren’t in school. Students cannot reach their full potential unless they attend regularly and are fully engaged in the educational opportunities provided.

There is a clear link between good attendance/punctuality and educational achievement. We are committed to maximising the achievements of all students. Regular attendance and punctuality are vital if students are to benefit fully from the academic, personal and social opportunities, which are offered to them within the school.

Parents/Carers play an important role in supporting the school, and we actively seek to foster positive relationships with all parents/carers, allowing us to work together to support your children in achieving excellent attendance to school.

Winterhill school recognises that barriers to attendance can be varied and complex and that some students face greater challenges than others in attending school consistently. And so, we are committed to fostering a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment, and to building strong, trusting relationships with students and their families to help overcome these challenges.

What is a ‘Persistently Absent (PA) student?

Your child becomes a ‘persistently absent’ student whenever attendance falls below 90%.
As a school we monitor attendance very closely. If your child’s attendance drops below 92%, they will be monitored and a range of attendance interventions will be put into place. These may include: a family assessment of need support plan, which helps identify concerns and strengths within a family, especially when extra support is needed.
From September 2024, we have had to report to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) for consideration of a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) – which is a costly fine. Where a student misses 10 sessions (10 half days or 5 full days) of unauthorised absence in any 10-school week period. The threshold can be met with any combination of unauthorised absence, e.g. 4 sessions in term time plus 6 instances of arriving late.

Winterhill Attendance Team

The senior Attendance Champion is Mr D Shepherd (Assistant Headteacher)

The school’s key attendance staff are

Mrs M Small (Attendance Manager)

Mrs S Khan (Family Liaison Officer)

Miss E Townsend (Student Reception)

The Trust Strategic Attendance Lead is Ms K Riordan.

School Start and Finish Times

School is open to students from 8.30am.

The school day will start at 8.45am and pupils will be in their classroom, ready to begin lessons at this time therefore, students will be expected to be on the school site by 8.35am.

The morning register closes at 9:40 am. Any student arriving after this time will receive an Unauthorised absence (U code), which will impact negatively on their attendance record. School finishes at 3.00pm for all year groups.

Absence Procedures

Parents/carers are required to contact the school office by telephone (01709 740232 extension 156 or 174) or email (attendance@winterhill.org.uk) before 9:00 am on each day of their child’s absence. They should provide a reason for the absence and an estimated duration, e.g. one school day.

If a student is absent and no contact has been made, the Attendance Team will contact the parent/carer via G4S text message and email. Parents/Carers must respond directly to either message. The reason for the absence must be stated.

If no response is received, the Attendance Team will follow up with a phone call.

Please be aware that where there is still no contact, a home visit may be carried out on the same day, to complete a safe and wellbeing check.

As part of the school’s safeguarding procedures, a home visit will be carried out on the third consecutive day of any unexplained absence, if no communication has been received.

We appreciate that children are unwell from time to time and that there can be exceptional circumstances for absences, but we ask that where an illness can be managed in school that you endeavour to commit to maintaining positive attendance to school and send your child to school to ensure no learning is missed.

Please Click here to view NHS Guidance on ‘Is my child too ill to attend school?’

Medical Appointments

Please try to make any medical/dental appointments for outside of school hours, or during the school holidays. If a medical appointment is unavoidable during the school day, please ensure the school is notified in advance. The Attendance Team will then make a note on the register so the class teacher is aware and can allow the student to leave promptly. However, it is the student’s responsibility to remember the time of their appointment and to sign out at the Student Reception before leaving.

Leave of Absence (including term-time holidays)

Please be aware that the Headteacher will not grant any leave of absence during term time. As set by RMBC , if a parent/carer decides to take a holiday in term time for 5 or more days, a FPN will be considered, and each parent/carer will be required to pay £80 for each child removed from school. This will need to be paid within 21 days and, if not paid within this time, the charge will rise to £160 per parent/carer per child and must be paid within 28 days to avoid potential prosecution. An escalation process for repeat offences will be followed.

Punctuality

Punctuality is a high priority, and lateness to school is treated seriously. When a student arrives late, the following actions are taken:

Accumulating 3 instances of lateness within a 5-day period will result in a C4 behaviour log and a 1-hour after-school detention.

Why is good attendance important?

To avoid gaps in learning.
To help achieve good exam results.
To help with getting to sixth form college, an apprenticeship and university.
To help achieve career aspirations.
To develop social skills and form positive friendships.
To prevent enforcement action.

What can I do to improve my child’s attendance?

We know that being a parents/carer can be hard. We understand how tough it can be. Please contact us if you need some help or support.

There are some of the things that you can do to ensure that your child achieves and maintains good attendance and punctuality:

Have an evening and morning routine, which allows a minimum of 8 hours sleep.
Limit digital technology use e.g. gaming, social media, apps etc. and finish at least one hour before bed.
Allow enough time in the morning for your child to get ready, have breakfast, travel to school and arrive on time
Have their own alarm clock.
Get a reliable friend to call for them in the morning.
Get their equipment and bag ready the night before.
Have a regular study time each evening.
Make sure that they do not wait for friends in the morning before school
Learn bus timetables in advance

Work with us, to help you, to help your child.

Celebrating Good Attendance

At Winterhill, we believe that getting it right, each and every day, should be rewarded and full attendance is key to success, which is why we have developed a comprehensive incentive programme for students and their families. Amongst other rewards and incentives, we celebrate our highest achievers and most improved students.

Good attendance is consistently recognised and celebrated during Group Tutor time and in assemblies throughout the year.

Individual students who meet or exceed the attendance expectation are acknowledged through a range of incentives. These may include entry into prize draws for vouchers, the awarding of certificates or letters on a termly and annual basis, and recognition for those who demonstrate significant improvement.

Special awards are presented to students with exceptional attendance over their five years at Winterhill School.

Students are kept informed of their attendance levels each week by their Group Tutor.