At The Nottingham Emmanuel School we are incredibly proud of the progress we have made with our attendance. Our attendance for 2023/24 was above both national and regional average. This is testament to the excellent relationship that we have with our parents and carers who prioritise the attendance of their children.
The Nottingham Emmanuel School attendance team
Tara Hickman – Attendance Officer – Email – thi@emmanuel.nottingham.sch.uk
Jane Courtney – Attendance Administrator – Email – jcourtney@emmanuel.nottingham.sch.uk
Andy Holmes – Community Liaison Officer
Department for Education’s Summary table of responsibilities for school attendance:
Parents are expected to:
- Ensure their child attends every day the school is open except when a statutory reason applies.
- Notify the school as soon as possible when their child has to be unexpectedly absent (e.g. sickness).
- Only request leave of absence in exceptional circumstances and do so in advance.
- Book any medical appointments around the school day where possible.
Schools are expected to:
- Have a clear school attendance policy on the school website which all staff, pupils and parents understand:
Link to – School Attendance and Punctuality Policy
- Develop and maintain a whole school culture that promotes the benefits of good attendance. Every AoW has an attendance focus. All rewards include attendance excellence or improvement.
- Accurately complete admission and attendance registers. These are completed at the start of every lesson.
- Have robust daily processes to follow up absence. Our Attendance Team follow up absences with day 1 calls, text messages and home visits when required.
- Have a dedicated senior leader with overall responsibility for championing and improving attendance. Mr Robert Tapp is our Assistant Principal responsible for behaviour & attendance.
Link to Government Document – Working Together to Improve School Attendance
Reporting an absence
We ask all our parents/carers to contact the Academy on each and every day of their child’s absence before 8:00am to explain the reason for their child’s absence.
To report an absence, you should leave a message on the student absence line on 0115 977 5380 and select option 2. Or if you wish to discuss your child’s absence with a member of staff, call 0115 929 7445 and select option 2. You may also submit absences through Weduc. Parents will receive a Weduc message after 9am if a child is absent but no message has been received from home requesting a reason for absence.
We encourage an I CAN ATTEND attitude with all of our students and ask parents to send their child to the Academy if it is a minor illness. If throughout the day, they become worse, your child’s Year Leader will contact you and discuss whether they need to stay at school or if they should go home.
If students are to achieve their full potential, excellent attendance is crucial.
To benefit fully from the teaching, care, guidance and many opportunities for enrichment provided each day at The Nottingham Emmanuel School, students must habitually be in the academy and be punctual to every lesson.
Higher attendance rates mean better academic performance, greater opportunities for higher education, more work options and higher earning potential. Research shows
83.7% of students with 100% attendance achieved grades 4 to 9 in English and Maths
35.6% of students with an attendance of less than 90% achieved grades 4 to 9 in English and Maths
Students with excellent attendance also experience significant personal and social benefits that extend beyond academic outcomes.
Students whose attendance falls below 90% will be classed as a ‘Persistent Absentee’ in line with government classification. Students will be “locked in” as Persistent Absentees for the academic year if they have 19 or more school days off a year. This means they are unable to achieve an attendance of over 90% for the academic year.
If attendance falls below 90%, we may make a referral to Education Welfare Service who will work with the family to improve attendance, or we may take legal action where necessary. Students who meet this criterion will be monitored and if their attendance fails to improve a Penalty Notice fine may be issued.
If your child needs to leave the academy during the school day
A letter/email with confirmation of the reason of absence needs to be sent to the Attendance Officer and your child’s Head of Year ahead of time so that we are made aware of the reason as to why they need to leave early. Students must sign out at Student Reception, if they leave during the Academy day. Any attendance queries can be sent to NES-AdminTeam@emmanuel.nottingham.sch.uk
Whenever possible, all medical appointments should be made outside of Academy hours. We are aware that some appointments have to be made during the academy day. In these cases, we need to see medical cards or appointment letters from the relevant medical professional, in order for this absence to be authorised. This should be sent to our attendance inbox –NES-AdminTeam@emmanuel.nottingham.sch.uk, attached in an absence message on Weduc or alternatively provided to student reception for them to scan a copy of the appointment to send to the attention of the Attendance Officer.
Holidays/time off during term time
In accordance with government guidelines, any time taken off during term time will be unauthorised, unless exceptional circumstances apply. Exceptional circumstances can only be authorised by the Principal and parents should put requests by emailing the Principal – sstapleton@emmanuel.nottingham.sch.uk.
It is particularly important that students do not take time off in Years 10 and 11 as they have coursework deadlines, controlled assessments, exams etc.
Penalty notices
If your child does not attend regularly, we will work with you to try and support better attendance. This is done through attendance meetings with your child’s Year Leader and the Attendance Officer.
However, should this not work, we will request legal action from the Local Authority (if applicable), this may be a penalty notice. From August 2024, the guidance for penalty notices changed. Please see details of these changes below. The Nottingham Emmanuel School want to work with all families to avoid any escalation of absence to possible fines or more serious consequences.
More information can be found on the Nottingham City Attendance Page
