Parents and Carers
Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust and the Academy are proudly recognised as an Inclusive Attendance school. Our unwavering commitment to attendance centres around child-centric actions, evidence-informed practices, and a shared understanding of everyone’s roles and collective responsibilities to promote exceptional attendance.
Our Trust-Wide Vision and Philosophy for Attendance
Every learner, every day, in school and thriving.
At the heart of our Trust is a shared belief that inclusive attendance is fundamental to equity, wellbeing and achievement. We are committed to creating a culture where every child and young person feels safe, valued and supported to attend school regularly and engage fully in their learning journey.
Our approach is rooted in compassion, recognition and partnership. We understand that attendance is not just a statistic—it is a reflection of a child’s experience and we respond with empathy, early support and strong relationships.
We promote:
- Belonging and inclusion through trusted relationships and a recognition-based culture that celebrates effort, resilience and progress.
- High expectations for all students: to be present, prepared and engaged in every lesson, every day.
- Collaborative responsibility among schools, families and communities to remove barriers and ensure every learner can thrive.
- Holistic development, recognising that regular attendance supports academic success, social growth, emotional wellbeing and lifelong opportunity.
Together, we commit to a Trust-wide ethos where attendance is everyone’s responsibility—and every child is supported to succeed.
Why is attendance so important?
We want the very best for all our students and aim to create a welcoming and inclusive academy that encourages students to attend every day.
We expect that every student should aim to be in the academy every day. Our experience shows that with support from their family this level of attendance is achievable for the vast majority of students.
Through regular attendance your child can:
- Build and maintain friendships
- Progress with their learning
- Participate in social activities
- Develop life skills, increase their confidence, and boost their self esteem
Where there are exceptional circumstances that may affect attendance, for example long-term illness supported by medical evidence, school will work with families to maximise attendance. We do this by recognising the unique challenges an individual student may face.
What does ‘inclusive attendance’ mean?
Inclusive attendance means we care about every child and want to help them come to school. We try to understand each child’s situation and give the right support. We want children to feel safe, happy and ready to learn.
We have a large network of support services that we can signpost families to so that the right support can be provided at the right time.
We use three levels of support to help with attendance:
- Tier 1 – For everyone: We create a school where all children feel welcome and want to attend.
- Tier 2 – Extra help: If a child is missing school often, we give more support and talk with families.
- Tier 3 – Special help: If a child has serious problems with attendance, we work with other professionals outside school to help.
We choose the right level based on what your child needs.
Working together, we can give your child the very best chance of reaching their academic and social potential.
How is good attendance recognised?
We praise and celebrate children who attend well—not just perfect attendance, but also effort and improvement. We want children to feel proud, included and motivated. It’s about encouraging everyone to do their best.
How can I help my child attend school?
Good attendance habits begin at home.
Below are some ways that you can support your child with attending every day:
- Take an interest in their learning; know their timetable and support them with getting their equipment ready each evening
- Encourage your child to avoid unnecessary absence
- Talk to us about what support we may be able to provide to you and your child if they are struggling to attend every day; you should contact your child’s Session 1 teacher in the first instance
- Avoid taking leave of absence during term time
- Try to arrange medical appointments outside of school hours; if this is not possible, please ensure your child attends school before and after the appointment as appropriate
What if my child is ill?
Students should only be absent from school if they have an illness that is severe enough to warrant staying at home. School can be a helpful distraction for students who are experiencing minor symptoms, and attending school develops in students a sense of pride and resilience needed in later life.
Please be aware there is an NHS scheme provided by pharmacies known as the Minor Ailments Scheme. It allows you to get fast treatments for common problems without seeing a GP. Participating pharmacies can diagnose and treat minor ailments for free for all children under 16 years of age – this scheme includes coughs, colds and sore throats as well as many other illnesses. Further information on this scheme and a list of all Black Country pharmacies participating in this scheme can be found here Minor Ailment Scheme :: Black Country ICB.
Pharmacy First was also launched in January 2024. This scheme also aims to positively impact school attendance rate by providing a walk-in service at your local pharmacy to allow treatment to be started quicker for certain conditions such as sore throats, ear infections, infected insect bites and sinusitis.
If your child does not want to attend the academy for any reason other than illness, please talk to your child and bring them to school. You will be able to inform our Receptionist of your concerns and they will pass the information on to the relevant member of staff who can speak with your child and contact you as necessary.
How do I report an absence?
If your child needs to stay at home or has a legitimate reason for being late, please contact the academy, ideally before 9am, on 01384 987973 and choose Option 1 to leave a voicemail. Families should inform us on every day of absence.
You can also email the Attendance Team where absence is known in advance using attendance@tca.shirelandcat.net; providing your child’s name, form group, time and date of absence, and the reason for absence. You should also send any medical evidence to this email address, for example appointment letters or text messages.
Please be aware all emails may take up to 48 hours to be actioned. If you need a response before this, please leave a voicemail as detailed above.
If students are absent for an extended period of time, or we do not have a reason for absence, we may organise a home visit to see your child in line with our attendance procedures.
When is absence authorised?
Only school can decide which absences are authorised and this is based upon the information families provide.
If the absence is recorded as authorised no further action will be taken. However, we may still contact you to discuss ongoing causes of absence to see how we can support you and your child.
What are unauthorised absences?
If the reason provided for absence is not regarded as essential or unavoidable, or if no reason is provided at all, your child’s absence will be recorded as unauthorised.
We rigorously monitor the attendance of all students and have a duty to pass on any absence concerns to the Local Authority if attendance does not improve. As a result of the Department for Education statutory guidance from Working Together to Improve Attendance, we have termly targeted support meetings with the Educational Support Services team from Dudley Local Authority. They identify students whose absence level is a cause for concern, quality assure the intervention and support already provided by the academy, as well as agreeing next steps of action.
Our aim is to work with you and your child to overcome any issues that are a barrier to regular attendance.
Persistent Absence
The Department for Education class a child as persistently absent when they have had 19 or more days of absence within an academic year.
Punctuality matters too
Good punctuality is crucial for students to achieve their full educational potential and is vital for students to form good habits for later life. Taking your child out of school during term time is disruptive to their education and can affect the progress they are making.
All students are expected to arrive on time to the academy each day and be punctual to lesson throughout the day.
Sanctions will be issued to students who are persistently late or arrive after the morning registration closes at 9.15am. Session 1 begins at 8.45am. Students are expected to be in lessons from 8.45am each morning. If necessary please contact us to discuss any issues that may be preventing your child from arriving to school on time and we will offer support where appropriate.
The chart below shows the amount of lost learning caused by lateness.
What are the legal requirements for my child’s attendance at school?
Section 444 (1) of the Education Act 1996 states:
If a child of compulsory school age who is a registered student at a school fails to attend regularly at the school, his/her parent is guilty of an offence.
If your child does not attend school regularly one or more of the following may occur:
- Letters will be sent to inform you of our concerns
- Medical evidence may be requested to support the authorisation of absence
- Invitation to attend Attendance Support Plan meetings; these meetings have a tiered structure to escalate the level of support offered; the initial meeting would take place with the child’s Head of Year or Attendance Manager
- Home Visits from academy staff
- Internal Early Help offered with possible escalation to external support
- Identified interventions these may include internal interventions from Inclusion or Student Support Services or referrals to external support such as the School Nurse, Reflexions, Kooth, Routes, WYSA App etc.
- Signposting to support available from local Family Hubs
- Issuing of a Joint Early Warning Notice (JEWN) in conjunction with Dudley Local Authority
- Issuing of a 30 Day Notice to Improve (NTI) in conjunction with Dudley Local Authority
Leave of Absence
Education law states that Principals can no longer grant permission for any student to take a leave of absence during term time for leisure or recreational purposes. Taking your child out of school during term time is disruptive to their education and can affect the progress they are making.
Authorisation of leave of absence can only be considered if:
- permission has been applied for at least 15 school days in advance by the parent with whom the student usually resides
and
- there are exceptional circumstances surrounding the application
All leave of absence requests must be made in writing to the Principal, by e-mailing attendance@tca.shirelandcat.net. Permission cannot be granted retrospectively.
The consequences of an unauthorised leave of absence period may be that a fixed penalty notice is issued, potentially to any adult with parental responsibility for the child.
Dudley Local Authority will issue fixed penalty notices as follows:
- First offence in 3 years – per parent, per child, a fine of £80 issued, rising to £160 if you do not pay within 21 days.
- Second offence in 3 years – per parent, per child, a fine of £160 issued, if you do not pay the fine in 28 days you may be taken to court for keeping your child out of school.
- Third offence in 3 years – parents may be taken to court.
There is further information available from Dudley Local Authority regarding Penalty Notices for School Absence that can be found here School attendance advice | Dudley Council.