Attendance
Holidays in term time
Callington Community College does not support holidays taken during term time.
Holidays in term time are not a universal entitlement. They are only granted at the discretion of the Principal and only in exceptional circumstances.
If Parents/Carers wish to take a student on holiday in term time, they should complete the absence request form linked below, clearly setting out the exceptional circumstances that mean a holiday needs to take place in term time and email the completed form to rtaylor@callingtoncc.net clearly stating in the subject line "Holiday/Absence request".
Please note that Headteachers cannot authorise absence retrospectively and so, if a form is not received in good time, then the absence will automatically be unauthorised. Equally, unless you receive a written response to confirm the holiday is authorised, then please do not assume that it has been.
Parents/Carers who take their child out of College for a holiday without authorisation could receive a Fixed Penalty Notice
High Expectations of Attendance and Punctuality
At Callington Community College we aim for an environment which enables and encourages all members of our College community to reach out for excellence. For our students to gain the greatest benefit from their education it is vital that they attend regularly. The achievement of good attendance and punctuality is therefore given high priority.
We expect every student to achieve at least 96% attendance during an academic year. Evidence clearly shows that students who reach or go beyond their potential are those who have excellent attendance.
Parents, students and College staff share the responsibility for ensuring that attendance rates at Callington Community College are maximised and that rates of unjustified and unauthorised absenteeism are kept to an absolute minimum.
Did You Know
- 90% attendance means the equivalent of missing 4 whole weeks in one school year.
- Over 5 years this is the equivalent of missing HALF a school year.
- Missing just 17 days in one year can mean dropping a full grade at GCSE.
- 75% of students with 95% attendance or more achieve 5 A* – C grades at GCSE.
- Of students with less than 90% attendance only 25% achieve 5 A*-C grades at GCSE.
- A child on holiday for 2 weeks during term time will miss 50 one hour lessons. Some never catch up.
- Being late 10 minutes each day for one year is equal to missing approximately 6 school days.
Attendance is rigorously monitored by the College. We will notify parents and carers once students’ levels of absence start to become a concern. If concerns persist then we will invite parents and carers to meet with us so that concerns can be shared, factors affecting attendance identified and a plan of action agreed to help the student to attend regularly in the future. In the event of unauthorised absences persisting further action will be taken by the college which could include legal action.
Lateness
If a student is late to College for an unavoidable reason, it is important that Parents/Carers let us know of this promptly so that they are not sanctioned.
Students who are late to College, or are 4 or more minutes late to lessons without a valid reason will receive a reset room placement as a sanction.
Broken weeks
- If a student has 2 broken weeks (defined as not completing a full week) in the first 3 weeks of term, the College will notify Parents/Carers via a broken weeks letter.
- Tutors or Pastoral staff may contact Parents/Carers to discuss the reason for the broken weeks and to discuss the link between early broken weeks and later persistent absence in many cases.
Below 96%
- Initial alert letter (Stage 1 – Attendance notification) sent to parents/carers by Tutor – Attendance certificate included.
- Tutor discusses attendance with student.
Below 94%
- Alert letter including reference to legal obligations (Stage 2 – Attendance concern) sent to parents/carers by Head of Year – Attendance certificate included.
- Pastoral Support Assistant and/or Head of Year discuss attendance with student.
- A variety of pastoral support strategies will be used to improve attendance.
Further absence:
4-week attendance monitoring by the Attendance officer where any absences due to illness will be unauthorised unless medical evidence is provided. If a student successfully completes this process we will notify Parents/Carers by letter.
If they do not complete this process successfully, a Stage 2b letter will be sent and an attendance meeting between Parents/Carers and the relevant Head of Year will take place. Attendance will continue to be monitored.
If attendance does not improve a Stage 3c letter will be sent to invite Parents/Carers to attend a meeting with the Attendance lead and attendance monitoring will continue.
Persistent Absenteeism (at or below 90%)
Should a students’ attendance drop below 90% we will consider a referral to the Education Welfare Service (EWS).
- A further attendance meeting with the Attendance lead and/or Head of Year will take place with a formal attendance plan drawn up.
- A Referral to the Local Authority EWO will also be considered to include meeting(s) with Students, Parent/Carers, Attendance letters, telephone calls and home visits.
- Consideration multi-agency support including a referral to the Early Help Hub.
- Pastoral Support Programme continues.
- Fixed Penalty Notice considered for unauthorised absence.
- Education Planning Meeting (EPM) arranged to discuss strategies to rapidly improve attendance. This may include issuing a Final Written Warning, an application for an Education Supervision Order through the family courts or prosecution in the magistrates court supported by Cornwall Council’s legal team.
Attendance queries
Questions regarding attendance should be first directed to the attendance officer or your child’s tutor. For more detailed support with attendance please contact the relevant Head of Year or the College Attendance lead.
Our Senior Attendance Champion is Mr Rob Taylor, Assistant Principal - Behaviour and Attendance: rtaylor@callingtoncc.net
Our Attendance Officer is Mrs Lynda Fearn: lfearn@callingtoncc.net