Szczecin Academy of International Learning

Attendance and Absence Policy

Procedures for Parents to Follow When a Child is Absent

 telephone the school by 8.30am on the first morning of your child’s absence
explaining the reason for absence.
 continue to contact the school each morning explaining the reason for absence, unless
the school has been notified of the reason for the entire period of absence and given a
return date.
 Bring a filled out and signed absence slip and any doctors slips which justify your
child’s absence from attendance

Procedures for the School to Follow When a Child is Absent

 parents will be telephoned by the school if no contact has been made by 9.30am
 registers will be checked on a weekly basis for any missing marks or unexplained
absence
 at the end of each term any unexplained absences will be marked as unauthorised

Holiday Requests

The dates of our terms and holidays are available in our school calendar published on the
school website in advance. This is to help parents plan holidays. When you book your
holiday, please check that it does not clash with the school term.

The Value of Regular Attendance

Your child must attend school regularly. Research shows that pupils perform better if their
parents or carers emphasise the importance of attending school.

Legal Responsibilities

Parents have a legal duty to make sure their child attend school regularly and punctually. The
school monitors children’s attendance and will take action if it is poor.

Requests for Leave of Absence

Absence for anything other than through illness or medical reasons during term time is
actively discouraged.

Please be aware that attendance is very important and may not only have effect on your
child’s grades but on their overall achievement and development. For this reason, the
Headmaster may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional
circumstances.

The Headmaster will define ‘exceptional circumstances’ and also determine the number of
school days a child can be away from school if the leave is granted.

Applying for Leave of Absence

Parents requesting time out of school for their child during term time should write a letter to
the Headmaster giving reasons for the absence. An appointment with the Headmaster will
then follow to discuss his decision on whether this is an exceptional circumstance.

Attendance Awards

To promote good attendance, we operate a reward system. Every child with 100% attendance
for each term will receive a certificate. Any child with 100% for the whole year will receive
a special prize.

Persistent Absence and Lateness

Any pupil with an attendance record of 80% or below per term are referred to as “Persistent
Absentees” and the following procedures will be applied.

In the first instance, contact will be made to the parent/carer regarding poor attendance and/or
punctuality by the following:

 Letter and printout – indicating the child’s attendance record if it falls below 95% for
that term.
 In addition to a letter and printout, pupils with attendance percentages between 90%
and 80% will be monitored half termly.
 Meeting with Headmaster where appropriate – to discuss
attendance/punctuality record and the effects on learning.

Contact with the parent/carer regarding attendance/punctuality will be noted in the

Attendance & Absence Folder in the school office.