Attendance

Attendance and punctuality are very important habits for students to develop. They are key personal qualities required by employers. All students should aim to attend college every day of every term in order to benefit from the teaching and learning opportunities available. Students should aim to be punctual for all sessions. This creates a good start to the lesson. Tutor time from 8.50 to 9.10 am is very important and students need to be in their tutor bases at 8.50 am. Key information and messages are given out and tutors ensure that their tutees are ready for the day ahead. Once in college, students must take responsibility for getting to the start of lessons on time. The college uses an electronic registration system which tracks every student in every lesson. Weekly data for every tutor group is displayed outside the Hall. Each week, the top ten tutor groups achieving the best attendance add valuable points to their House total.

The current attendance for the college, as a whole, is 92%. We are required by the Local Authority to achieve a minimum attendance of 93% during 2006/7. We aim to exceed this target and we need your support to do this.

You can support your son/daughter and the college in the following ways:

· Ensure your son/daughter arrives by 8.50 am – students arriving after 9.10 am must sign in with the Attendance Officer in the Student Services office. Students arriving after 9.20 am will be marked absent for the morning and an absence ‘note’ will be required from you.

· Contact the Attendance Officer if your son/daughter is absent for any reason:

Phone : 01803 833889
Email : absence@dartmouthcollege.devon.sch.uk
Fax : 01803 833358

· Send in an absence note when your son/daughter returns to college.

· Arrange to have your family holiday in the school holidays!

The college may be able to authorise a family holiday during term time (for a maximum of ten days). Please complete a holiday form well in advance of the proposed holiday. Requests at the very start of the autumn term, during examination/assessment periods, the months prior to Key Stage 3 SATs and Key Stage 4 GCSE examinations are unlikely to be authorised.

Unfortunately, there are times when students are absent and we don’t know why. When this happens, a letter is sent home requesting reasons for absence. If no reasons are received or the college cannot approve the absence the student receives unauthorised marks. This is not a good thing to have on an attendance record. We are often asked for job references for students after they have left college and details of attendance are always requested. If a student’s attendance level drops below 80% or they have ten unauthorised absences (the equivalent of five days) the college will refer the student to the Educational Welfare Officer and parents will be informed. Ultimately, parents can be issued with a penalty notice and can be fined £50/£100.

There are many reasons why students are absent from college and if you are at all concerned about any issues please contact Ros Neale – Inclusion Manager.

Students are rewarded for good attendance with house points and certificates.