Absences & Attendance

“Attendance is good” (Ofsted)

At The Wavell School, we believe that every day of learning counts. Regular school attendance is more than just a routine - it lays the foundation for success both in and out of the classroom. Whether your child is in Year 7 or preparing for GCSEs, showing up each day helps build confidence, achievement, and a strong sense of belonging.

Being in school is crucially important to your child’s academic achievement, wellbeing, and wider development.  The evidence shows that regular school attendance is a key mechanism to support children and young people’s educational, economic and social outcomes in adulthood. Schools can facilitate positive peer relationships, which contributes to better mental health and wellbeing. We can see through our own student outcomes that those students with the highest attendance throughout their school years go on to achieve their potential at GCSE. When a student is absent from school they have missed out on the huge range of game-changing opportunities Wavell School has to offer. We expect students to achieve as close to 100% attendance as possible.

We have a strong commitment to supporting students in school. We know that attendance is a shared responsibility between school and families. By working in partnership, we can make sure every student has the chance to reach their full potential.

If you have any questions, or if your child is experiencing difficulties, please don’t hesitate to contact our Attendance Team. We are here to listen and help.

Absence Procedure

Reporting an Absence Due to Illness If your child is unwell, please notify the school as soon as possible on the first day of absence using one of the following methods by 8.15am:

Email: Send an email to attendance@wavell.hants.sch.uk
Phone: Call the school 01252 341256 and select option 1 to leave a message regarding student absence, including the reason.

You must report your child's absence each day until they return to school.

SHOULD MY CHILD GO TO SCHOOL TODAY? - Advice from the NHS regarding illness and attending school.

SICKNESS

Please note that if your child has suffered from diarrhoea or vomiting they should not return to school until 48 hours after their last episode.

Reporting a Medical Appointment

We ask that where possible you do not book routine medical appointments during the school day. Where this is not possible, please ensure that your child attends school both before and /or after the appointment time as applicable.

If your child has an unavoidable medical appointment during school hours, please

Email: Contact us via email with appointment details. If the appointment requires a full day's absence please complete an Application for Leave Form and email it to attendance@wavell.hants.sc.uk

Requesting Leave for Other Events

For any planned absence, you must complete an Application for Leave Form in advance.

Application for Leave in Exceptional Circumstances(Please complete, save and return via email)

Please note that holiday requests will only be approved under exceptional circumstances.

Holidays During Term Time

Headteachers are no longer able to authorise holiday requests. If your child has unauthorised absence you may be issued with a penalty notice and fine.
Information on Penalty Notices

In cases of exceptional circumstances leave may be applied for by emailing the form below to the School at least a week beforehand in order for us to assess the impact on their learning. (Please save the form after completing before attaching to an email)

Application for Leave in Exceptional Circumstances

Please complete, save and return via email. If you are unable to email the form please print off a copy and return to Student Reception

Where there is a prolonged period of absence due to ill health or injury, we will liaise closely with parents to provide an appropriate amount of work for each individual to help them not to fall too far behind. We also work closely with the Education Inclusions Service to support students whose absence for medical reasons is sustained over some time.

If your child fails to attend School regularly you may be issued with a penalty notice and fine.

www.gov.uk/school-attendance-absence

Welfare Checks

Safeguarding is vitally important part of the school's responsibility when looking after our students. Students having high/full attendance to school is important for a student’s academic and personal development and supports them have a positive mental health.

It is obvious then that Attendance and Safeguarding link together and play an important role in ensuring our students are developing academically and personally as well as ensuring their safety.

Therefore, after guidance from Hampshire LA, Ofsted and the Department of Education we are putting in place the following procedures

We will need to conduct a ‘welfare check’ on a student when they are absent from school for three to five consecutive days.

The process and expectations will be as follows:

This process is for any student that is absent from school for a three to five consecutive days, and the school has not seen the student in person by school staff

This will include if the student is unwell and parents have been informing the school on a daily basis.
Includes students who are not attending school for any other reason, this does not include leave of absence that has been processed by the school
For students who are off school due to medical reasons (e.g broken bones)
Students who are not in school due to a fixed term suspension

The school will contact parents to request one of the following actions to take place:

A virtual online video call (MS Teams) to take place with the student and a school designated staff member
A home visit where appropriate
A meeting within the local community (e.g Community centre or Café)
Parents to bring the student to school main reception for a school designated staff member to complete welfare check

If none of the above can be arranged, then Wavell may make an unannounced home visit in some cases