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Greenshaw High School

Attendance and punctuality

At Greenshaw High School we firmly believe that all students benefit from outstanding school attendance. We are extremely proud of our student’s attendance each and every day and we want to continue to maintain these high standards.

We know that illness is unavoidable and to be expected but knowing whether students are going to be absent from school and the reasons for any absences is an important part of safeguarding. 

We expect students to attend school every day that the school is open. There are 365 days in a year, 175 of which are not spent in school. This means there are only 190 school days! Please click here for our term dates/inset days.

We continuously monitor attendance and if a student’s attendance becomes a cause for concern we will be in contact with you to discuss strategies and support. Failure to engage in this support and if no improvement is seen can lead to penalty notices and prosecution, which we want to help families avoid. Please note, if a student’s attendance is consistently at 80% from Year 7 to Year 11, they will miss a whole year of education. 

Parents/carers are encouraged to contact the school promptly whenever any problem occurs that may keep the child away from school. 

We expect that all students will: 

  • Attend school every day that the school is open;
  • Attend school punctually; 
  • Attend school appropriately prepared for the day. 

We expect that all parents/carers who have day to day responsibility for the children and young people will: 

  • Encourage regular school attendance and be aware of their legal responsibilities.
  • Ensure that the child/children in their care arrive at school punctually, prepared for the school day.
  • Years 7 to 11: Contact the school before 9.00am on the morning of each day of the student's absence by calling the 24-hour attendance line 020 8715 1001 option 1 > option 2 or email the school on attendance@greenshawhigh.co.uk. Please note that any unexplained absence will be treated as unauthorised absence.
  • Sixth Form: Contact the school before 9.00am on the morning of each day of the student's absence by calling the 24-hour attendance line 020 8715 1001 option 1 > option 1 or email the school on 6thform@greenshawhigh.co.uk. Please note that any unexplained absence will be treated as unauthorised absence.
  • Provide medical evidence where the illness/absence is frequent or long term. If the illness is longer than four days we will require medical evidence to be able to authorise the absence; 
  • Make all non-emergency medical appointments during the school holidays (see term dates above) or out of school hours. Medical evidence of these appointments should be provided ie. medical appointment card and the school will need to be notified no later than 24 hours in advance. It is expected that students attend either side of medical appointments.
  • Punctuality is also highly important. The school gates open at 8:20am and close at 8:28am. Students should be in their tutor rooms by 8:30am for the registers to be taken. If they arrive after 8:28am, they will be required to go through the School Office and marked with a L – late mark. They will also be spoken to by their year team at the end of the day. Please note that the registers close at 9:30am. Students who arrive after this time will be marked with a U – unauthorised attendance mark.

We understand that there may be rare occasions when you are unavoidably late due to unforeseen circumstances. On these occasions please make sure that you contact the school office to inform us when you will arrive. 

At Greenshaw High School, we are committed to supporting students to achieve and maintain good attendance and punctuality. We celebrate students with 100% attendance at the end of every half term/term.

Special Leave Request

All holidays and days out taken during term time will be marked as unauthorised absence and will be recorded on your child’s attendance record. The school will only authorise absence in exceptional circumstances and evidence will be required. Please complete this form to request any exceptional absence in advance. Once you have completed the form, each circumstance is considered and you will be notified of the outcome via email.  Unauthorised absence will incur a penalty notice issued by the Local Authority.  

Please click here for the Greenshaw High School Attendance Policy.

The message is simple: the greater the attendance, the greater the achievement.