Attendance Policy

PUPIL ATTENDANCE POLICY

1. Rationale:

Regular attendance is central to raising standards and attainment and helps to ensure that all pupils can fulfill their potential. Hence, pupils need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education. Missing out on lessons leaves children vulnerable to falling behind. Children with poor attendance tend to achieve less in both primary and secondary school.

2. Admission and Attendance Registers:

Edison International Academy has an admission register and an attendance register. All pupils, regardless of their age, are placed on both registers.

2.1 Admission Register: This contains the personal details of every pupil admitted in Edison International Academy, along with the date of admission or re-admission to the school, information regarding parents and details of the school last attended.

Expected First Day of Attendance:Edison International Academy enters pupils on the admission register and attendance register from the beginning of the first day on which it has agreed, or been notified, that the pupil will attend the school. For most pupils the expected first day of attendance is the first day of the academic year. If a pupil fails to attend on the agreed or notified date, Edison International Academy is liable to establish the reason for the absence and mark the attendance register accordingly.

Deletions from the Admission Register:Edison International Academy reserves the right to delete a pupil from the admission register (i.e. for non-payment of school fees), but not before the school has given timely notice to the parents and the Supreme Council of Education.

Preservation of the Admission Register and Attendance Register:Every entry in the admission register and attendance register must be preserved for a period of three years after the date on which the entry was made.

2.2 Attendance Register: Attendance registers are relevant to all pupils enrolled at Edison International Academy.For safeguarding and educational reasons, schools must follow up all unexplained and unexpected absence in a timely manner, such as through “First Day Calling” procedures.

3 Edison International Academy School Procedure

Class Teachers are responsible for completing attendance registers at the start of the first period and once again at the beginning of the second period each day. The names and details of pupils who join or leave the school will be included or deleted from the Attendance Register (as well as the Admission Register).

The school reports the following attendance issues to the Supreme Education Council:

20 days of unauthorized absence
Deletion from the school register when the next school is not known.

Each attendance register will include the following information:

details of the pupil’s form/tutor group
whether a pupil is present or absent on any given day
information about authorized or unauthorized absence. Details of such information will be found in correspondence between home and school, which is kept in each pupil’s correspondence file/or electronically.

Electronic registration:

The register will be backed up every month/or a printed version will be available
There will be provision for the register to be stored for at least 3 years
If corrections are made to the register provision to show the correction and the original will be made through comparison with the electronic version and the printed copy.

The Academic Manager, together with the School Secretary is responsible for collecting the registers after each school day’s registration and for following up on any issues that require following up with either pupils’ parents and/or with the Supreme Education Council. Any such correspondence has to be in written form, and a copy of which placed on the pupil file.

Attendance Register Entries:

All entries to attendance registers must be made in ink (no pencil).
Attendance registers must show original and amended entries
Any amendment must be accompanied by the name and title of the person making the amendment and the date on which the amendment was made.

The wording below explains the codes used in the attendance registers and gives clear instructions to form tutors on how to maintain their attendance register. A copy of this wording is affixed to the inside front cover of each form attendance register.

4.0 Edison International Academy Attendance Register Codes:

Pupils present should be marked with a diagonal ink line
Pupils absent should be marked with a circle in ink.
In the case of an approved absence the following code letter should be marked in the circle:
H : Holiday
M : Medical/dental appointment
P : Approved outside activity
V : Educational visit
C : Other circumstances (to be specified as a footnote)
All absences should be explained by a letter from the parent(s). Letters should be sent in the register to the office. The absence circle should be marked with an ‘N’ when a letter has been received (only the final day in a series of absences)
Attendance totals should be completed daily
The school secretary will publish an ‘absent pupils’ list and will do the following:

ascertain the reason
ensure the proper safeguarding action is taken
identify whether the absence is approved or not
identify the correct code to use before entering it on to the school’s electronic register

In the event of a fire the school secretary will take the school registers to the assembly point.
The register is an important legal document and the records are open to inspection by the appropriate authorities
Minimum Attendance for Students:For all pupils to pass one academic year, Edison International Academy stipulates a minimum attendance of 80% throughout the three terms.
(see also Pass/Fail Policy)

5.0 Review:

This policy is subject to an annual review and amendments if necessary.