Attendance

School Attendance

At Fitzalan High School we seek to provide an environment where all our pupils can flourish as a member of a happy, caring and safe community. We want our pupils to attend school regularly. We would like parents to set high attendance standards for their child and to instil in them the importance of being punctual and making the most of all the opportunities available to them in school.

Regular school attendance is important, not just because the law requires it. Pupils who attend school regularly have a greater chance of making friends, to feel included, have better social skills, confidence and self-esteem. Excellent school attendance has also been shown to have a direct impact on a child reaching their full academic potential.

Our aspiration is for all our pupils to achieve 100% attendance.

Unless exceptional circumstances apply, the only legitimate reasons for an absence to be authorised by ourselves as a school are as follows:

Illness of your child
Death of a close family member
Urgent medical or dental appointments
Religious observance - we will authorise one day only

If your child is unwell, it is important that you contact the school to let us know about it. Please use the ClassCharts app to log your child as being absent. If your child is likely to be absent for more than one day then you should give an indication of the number of days likely to be missed.

Your attendance team are: -

Senior Management Team Link – Miss C Morris (Assistant Head teacher)

School Attendance Officer –Years 7 – 11 - Miss Emma Westwell

School Attendance Assistant – Miss Kerstin Watts

School Attendance/ PAL Years 12 & 13 – Mrs Laura Gill

Medical Appointments

Routine medical appointments should be where possible made outside of school hours.

Unauthorised Family Holiday

If a family informs us that they are going on holiday, they have to complete an unauthorised family holiday form. This includes any families that are travelling abroad to visit relatives that are ill. A pupil cannot be absent for more than twenty days. If they are, they will be taken off roll.

Off Roll

If a pupil leaves Cardiff and moves to a different authority or area of the UK, we need to have a forwarding address and the address of the school they are attending before we can take a pupil off roll.

Home Education

If a parent elects to home educate their child, they have to put it in writing to the school. We will complete a form to submit to the local education authority informing them of this

Education Welfare Service

If a pupil has an unauthorised absence for five or more days, we will follow the Local Education Authority five step attendance policy process. The school will refer any cases that fall into this category to the Education Welfare Service (EWS) and parents may face a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN).

Let's get attendance back on track - Cardiff Council launches new school attendance drive (cardiffnewsroom.co.uk)

Head of Year

The head of each year group works closely with the School Attendance Officer (SAO). They are available to help you if you are experiencing attendance issues with your child and need additional support and advice.