Attendance - UTC Warrington

UTC Warrington is committed to ensuring that every child reaches their full learning and development potential. One of the most important aspects of gaining a great set of results and learning how to succeed in life is to ensure that you have a good record of attendance and punctuality. These two areas are tools for life and are two of the most important skills we acquire when at school.

Good school attendance gives your child the opportunity for success and helps develop skills for life. Your child should attend school every day unless there is an unavoidable cause like illness.

If there is an issue and you would like support or advice, please contact:

Attendance Mentor – Mrs P Crean
Attendance Mentor – Mrs S Grady
Designated Safeguarding Lead – Mr P Rigby
Pastoral Manager – Mr B Rane

Term Time leave of absence

We cannot legally authorise leave of absence. Taking leave of absence will affect your child’s educational future as much as any other absence.

For leave of absence taken without permission of the Principal your parents may be issued with a penalty notice of £100 (reducing to £50 if paid within 28 days).

Failure to pay this may lead to prosecution and, if prosecuted and convicted, parents will have a criminal record; for more serious offences, parents can be fined up to £2,500 and in extreme cases there is a penalty of up to three months imprisonment.

Medical & Dental Appointments

Parents are advised where possible to make medical and dental appointments outside of the UTC day. Where this is not possible, students should attend the UTC for part of the day. Parents should show the appointment card/letter to the Attendance Officer in order for their child to leave the UTC at a particular time. The loss of a single day will reduce your child’s attendance in any single week by 20%.

Attendance Monitoring

Student attendance is monitored daily by the UTC’s pastoral team. Individual intervention plans may be introduced to improve their attendance and therefore enable them to achieve the best possible educational outcomes. If you have any questions about attendance, please speak to the Attendance Mentor.

What to do if my child is unable to attend?

Should your child be too ill to attend the school please contact us on the first day of absence where ever possible before 8:20am, tel no: 01925 737067.

If you know your child will be absent for consecutive days or for an appointment please send in evidence of medication prescribed by your doctor or hospital. The school has a right to request evidence of illness or appointments to authorise the absence. Should we not receive medical evidence absences will be noted as unauthorised.

Telephone calls are made to every parent/carer of a student who is absent from the school every morning. If we cannot make contact, a text message will be sent. In some cases a follow up home visit may be made by the school Attendance Officer.

Why is high attendance important?

Having a good education is an important factor in opening up more opportunities in adult life. High attendance for your son/daughter will improve their attainment in Key Stage 4 or Sixth Form. Did you know that:

a child who is absent a day of school per week misses an equivalent of two years of their school life
90% of young people with absence rates below 85% fail to achieve five or more good grades of GCSE and around one third achieve no GCSEs at all
poor examination results limit young people’s options and poor attendance suggests to colleges and employers that these students are unreliable
at least 1 million children take at least one half day off a year without permission
7.5 million school days are missed each year through unauthorised absence.

Students who are absent could fall behind in their work and their motivation and enjoyment of learning could be affected. Regular absences could lead to poor behaviour as well as missing out on opportunities to work with employers and take part in enrichment sessions. Social confidence may also be affected with students missing out on developing friendships and interaction.

At UTC Warrington, we will work hard with you and your son/daughter to maintain high levels of attendance. This may include meetings to discuss attendance or general school concerns or home visits. Our experienced pastoral team will work to find positive solutions if concerns do arise.