Attendance
Absence
It is vital that your child attends school as regularly as possible. There is a very strong link between excellent attendance and high achievement at school. That is why, at Longdendale High School, we encourage all our students to aim for 100% attendance. Our Attendance Policy is available to view on our Policies page here.
Frequent absences can add up quickly and be harmful to your child’s progress at school.
If your child is absent, please ensure it is for a genuine illness or emergency only. Please contact us as soon as possible on the first day of absence, explaining the reason and length of absence expected. Please then keep our attendance team updated daily, phoning 01457 764 006 by 8.00am. Students should return to school as soon as possible after their period of illness.
If your child is absent for 3 days or more, or if you have received an attendance letter from school requesting medical evidence for absences, we kindly ask that you provide some form of medical evidence in order for us to authorise the absence - for example a copy of a doctor’s appointment card, copy of a prescription or doctor’s letter, etc.
Please try to make all medical or dental appointments after school or in the school holidays where possible. If an appointment during school time is unavoidable, please send your son/daughter into school before and/or after the appointment. The school requires a copy of the medical appointment card/letter in order to authorise the time away from school.
PUNCTUALITY
We expect all students at Longdendale High School to attend school on time every day to maximise their learning potential. Students are expected to be in school, at their year group meeting point on the top yard by 8.20am. If for any reason students arrive after 8.30am they should report to the Punctuality Desk where staff will mark them as late (code L). Students who arrive after 9.00am should report to reception where staff will mark them as late – this is considered an unauthorised absence (code U). This will affect their attendance percentage and will impact on their learning.
Any student who arrives late (after 8.30am but before 9.00am) once in a week will have their Standards Card signed. If they are late (after 8.30am but before 9.00am) twice in a week, they will receive a C2 lunchtime detention.
If a student arrives late after the close of registration (9.00am) they will be issued with a same day C2 lunchtime detention and will incur an unauthorised absence (code U) for the morning session.
Students who are repeatedly late after 9.00am will be placed on a punctuality monitoring period which may incur further sanctions including SLT and Head of School detentions.
Time out of lesson per day in 1 year equates to...
| 5 minutes | 3 days of learning | 16 lessons lost |
| 10 minutes | 5 days of learning | 32 lessons lost |
| 15 minutes | 8 days of learning | 48 lessons lost |
| 20 minutes | 11 days of learning | 63 lessons lost |
| 30 minutes | 16 days of learning | 95 lessons lost |
Holidays in Term Time
Legislation states that “The Head Teacher may not grant any leave of absence unless there are exceptional circumstances.”
Family holidays no longer constitute exceptional circumstances and consequently will not be authorised. Parents/carers must apply to the Head of School if they wish their child to have a leave of absence in term time, detailing when the absence will take place and the exceptional circumstances behind the absence - please use the form below. Parents who take their child out of school in term time without the permission of the Head of School may be issued with a fine. With the introduction of the new National Framework for Penalty Notices, changes came into force for Penalty Notice Fines issued after 19th August 2024. To view the changes, please see the poster below.
Attendance officer
A student is deemed to be ‘persistently absent’ if their attendance falls below 90%. Our Attendance Officer may contact families and students having issues with their attendance. Their role is to assist students and families in overcoming any barriers that may exist that are stopping your child from attending school regularly.
If a student’s attendance does not improve to the required level after support has been put in place, parents/carers may be fined or prosecuted for irregular attendance. With the introduction of the new National Framework for Penalty Notices, changes came into force for Penalty Notice Fines issued after 19th August 2024. To view the changes, please see the poster below.
