Attendance
At Thomas Gainsborough School, we expect our students to attend daily and in a punctual manner. This will help us to achieve Excellence: for each, for all.
All stakeholders of TGS - students, families, teachers, student support, attendance support and governors are vital in working together mutually in ensuring outstanding attendance.
''Pupils need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education. Missing out on lessons leaves children vulnerable to falling behind. Children with poor attendance tend to achieve less in secondary school'' (Department for Education ).
As well as academic benefits, consistent attendance also supports.
- The school values (Happiness, Respect, Confidence, Resilience, Positivity, Honesty)
- Self-Esteem
- Social interactions
- Reduction in anxieties (e.g. through missed work)
- Their commitment to future careers and work expectations
- Their reliability
- References
- Opportunities to develop socially and personally
If your child is ill or unable to attend, please telephone or email us (attendance@tgschool.net) before 8.40am to inform us of any absence. Please give the students name, tutor group and brief reason for absence, with an expected return date.
Thomas Gainsborough School operates a 'first day calling procedure'. This means if your child is absent at morning registration without our prior knowledge and we have not received any communication, then we will attempt to contact you. To support this process, please inform us immediately of any changes to your contact details and numbers. Any unknown or unauthorised absence will be dealt with in line with our policy for Attendance.
As families are legally required to ensure that their children regularly attend the school, where attendance is not meeting our expectations, then we will use a range of measures to improve this. This can be through letters, interventions from our early help offer (https://tgschool.net/early-help-offer), penalty notices or involvement of the school appointed EWO (Education Welfare Officer) as a small example. We will always look to support engagement with school. If you feel your child needs support, then please do contact at the earliest opportunity so we can assist immediately to ensure attendance is not affected.
Holidays
Families are also discouraged from term-time holidays and visits (please be aware there are 13 weeks of school holiday time in the year). Where these absences are not in line with the exceptional circumstances that can be granted leaves of absence, this period may be unauthorised or invoke a penalty notice.
To request a leave of absence in exceptional circumstances, please complete the form which can be found at the top of this page under resources.
Illness & Injury
If your child becomes ill or injured whilst at school, they need to inform a member of staff. Staff will be best placed to support this, and the student services team will offer any medical support needed. Families will be contacted by student services if their child needs to go home. Students should not contact home if they are unwell. This is due to the school needing to be aware so they can support in the first instance and ensure there is no immediate issue that needs medical attention. This will also stop any distress being caused by a call home, especially if the issue can be rectified in school.
Where positive attendance is evident, students will receive praise, merits, letters and certificates to recognise this.