Recent News
School Life
Absence & Attendance
Attendance (every lesson, every day)
At Ellowes Hall Sports College we strive for excellent attendance for all of our students. Our attendance target is 97% which would equate to a student having no more than 5 days off in a school year.
Attending school every day is proven to help develop social skills and friendships, increase GCSE achievement and increase the opportunities available in further education and the world of work.
School attendance
information 2023
Rewards and Incentives
At Ellowes Hall we like to reward students for having excellent attendance. For example:
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Breakfast club. We offer a free breakfast club to all students each morning from 8am. Students are welcome to arrive at anytime and can have a free bagel and/or hot chocolate to ensure they start the day positively.
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Student attendance competitions (100% for a defined period of time) which run each half term. Prize draws select the winning students.
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Tutor attendance league. Tutor groups compete in leagues to get promoted each half term and win tutor breakfast celebrations.
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Termly Cinema afternoon. For students who have attended 97%+.
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Certificates. For students who attend 100% for a term, for a year and for five years.
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Attendance challenges. For students who need to improve their attendance. Examples are the four week challenge, the half term challenge and the termly challenge. Students need to attend 100% to win the prize on offer.
Medical appointments
We realise that these happen and we would like parents to follow these rules at all times to help us monitor attendance accurately:
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Always try, where possible, to arrange appointments outside of school time. Where this is not possible, send students in to school first, then collect and return to school afterwards.
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Inform the school attendance officer (Miss. Lewis) of the appointment beforehand.
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Provide evidence of the appointment for our records. This will ensure we can authorise the absence.
Concerning attendance
We work in partnership with parents to improve attendance and would like to congratulate the many parents who make sure their child/children attend regularly.
During every conversation, meeting, and phone call with parents the school wishes to support students to come in to school every day. Unfortunately, if the attendance of students does not improve or parents do not engage with the school we are then forced to apply the attendance policy. We will do this fairly and consistently.
It is the parents’ legal responsibility to ensure their children receive appropriate education. Failing to send your child/children to school regularly without good reason is a criminal offence.
Where we identify concerning attendance we will apply our school attendance policy. We use an escalation system starting at stage 1. Where students show an improvement in attendance we continue to monitor these at the stage they are on. Where students show no improvement, a decline or parents refuse to engage with the school we escalate to the next stage.
Legal action to enforce school attendance
Local councils and schools can use various legal powers if your child is missing school without a good reason. They can give you:
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a Parenting Order
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an Education Supervision Order
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a School Attendance Order
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a fine (sometimes known as a ‘penalty notice’)
Parenting Order
This means you have to go to parenting classes. You’ll also have to do what the court says to improve your child’s school attendance.
Education Supervision Order
If the council thinks you need support getting your child to go to school but you’re not co-operating, they can apply to a court for an Education Supervision Order.
A supervisor will be appointed to help you get your child into education. The local council can do this instead of prosecuting you, or as well.
School Attendance Order
You’ll get a School Attendance Order if the local council thinks your child is not getting an education.
You have 15 days to provide evidence that you’ve registered your child with the school listed in the order or that you’re giving them home education. If you do not, you could be prosecuted or given a fine.
Fine
Your local council can give each parent a fine of £60, which rises to £120 each if you do not pay within 21 days. If you do not pay the fine after 28 days you may be prosecuted for your child’s absence from school.
Check your local council’s rules on when you can be fined.
Prosecution
You could get a fine of up to £2,500, a community order or a jail sentence up to 3 months. The court also gives you a Parenting Order.
Some unacceptable reasons for not coming to school
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Parental illness or care
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Shopping
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Visiting family
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Family weddings
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Cheaper flights/holidays during term time
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Truancy
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Not wanting to come to school
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Oversleeping
Who to contact if you wish to speak to someone about your child's attendance
Please use this list (in order) when trying to deal with attendance queries:
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Inspire. You can access your child’s attendance (including lates!) from Inspire using your parent login details. If you need these, please contact school reception.
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Every student is placed in a tutor group. Tutors see their students each morning.
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Every student has a pastoral head of year.
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Miss. Lewis (Attendance officer) can assist with attendance queries and if you wish to see your child’s attendance record.
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Mr. Di Bernardo (Assistant Headteacher) oversees school attendance and can assist parents if all other options (1-4) have been attempted.