Attendance

Please note that parents/carers must notify the school of any absence of a pupil on each day of absence.

Phoenix Park Academy recognises the link between good attendance and a pupil’s attainment. We therefore expect all students to attend school regularly and on time.  Pupils are formally rewarded for 100% attendance at the end of each term and daily using the points system.

Phoenix Park Academy encourages regular and punctual attendance in the following ways:

Providing a warm and welcoming learning environment.

Responding promptly to a child’s and/or parent’s concerns relating to events in school.

Displaying weekly attendance statistics.

Monitoring Pupil attendance, informing parents/carers in writing of irregular attendance, arranging meetings if necessary and referring to the Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) if irregular attendance continues.

If your child is absent due to illness, or for any other valid reason, please contact the school office on the first day of absence.

Any pupil needing to leave school early must provide written confirmation of any appointment. We encourage parents to make medical and dental appointments in the school holidays wherever possible, or out of school hours.

As parents/cares we expect that you will:

Always encourage regular school attendance and be aware of your legal responsibilities.

Always ensure that your child arrives at school punctually and ready for the school day.

Ensure that you contact school whenever your child is unwell and unable to attend school.

Contact the school by 8:45am on the first day of the child’s absence and telephone every day thereafter unless your child has a doctor’s certificate.

When a pupil does not attend school we will respond in the following manner:

On the first day of absence, if we have not heard from the parent/carer by 9.30 am the school will ring the child’s parent/carer. We may follow this with a home-visit if we are not able to make contact with you by telephone.

If by the end of the second day, there has still been no contact made we will ask our Education Welfare Officer to carry out a home visit to discuss your child’s absence. Failure to comply with the expectations set out by the Education Welfare Service may result in further action.

If by the end of the third day, there has still been no contact made by school Admin or our Attendance Improvement Officer the Police and Children’s Services will be contacted to complete a welfare check and a child missing in education form will be completed further action will also be sought.

Punctuality:

Pupils must arrive by 8:45 each morning.

If pupils arrive at school after the close of the register, a late mark will be recorded.

If a child arrives after 9.30 am, it will be recorded as a late absence and counted as an unauthorised absence. Where a child is persistently late, we consider this cause for concern and will ask to meet with parents to discuss a suitable way forward and/or notify the Educational Welfare Service.