Attendance

Medical or other appointments in school time should be avoided if possible. If it is unavoidable, a half day absence is considered sufficient for most appointments. To register a planned absence, please contact us, giving at least 24 hours notice.

Years 7-11:  attendance@stjohns.excalibur.org.uk

Sixth Form:  sixthformabsence@stjohns.excalibur.org.uk

By law Headteachers are only permitted to grant leave of absence in exceptional circumstances such as a family member’s funeral.

Parents/carers must submit a Leave of Absence request form at least 10 school days in advance. 

Please see Leave of Absence request form for all years.

On rare occasions during the day, students may fall unwell or have an accident and report to our First Aider for treatment. We are fortunate that in most instances students require basic attention and return quickly to their lessons where possible. However, if a student is not well enough to return to class, or if the injury requires further treatment, parents will be contacted to collect their child or transport them onto further medical care if requested.

In these instances, it is absolutely paramount for parents, or one of their nominated emergency contacts, to arrive at the academy without delay to collect their child.

In so far as the emergency contact is concerned, please note that in the event of an emergency, the Academy would make every effort to contact a child’s parents or guardian either at home or at work. Only if these attempts failed would we get in touch with an emergency contact that is not directly responsible for your child.

It is important that we always know where you can be reached. Please ensure that you notify us directly of any future changes of address or contact details.

Absence

Please contact the Sixth Form team every day of absence/illness.

Absence Line: 01672 525 081 (option 2)

Email: sixthformabsence@stjohns.excalibur.org.uk

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Other Absence

Absences may be authorised if arranged at least 24 hours in advance via parent/guardian communication for:

• Driving test, interview, University open days, funerals and medical appointments.

Please email this request to: sixthformabsence@stjohns.excalibur.org.uk 

For all other absences, or for periods longer than one day, please complete the Leave of Absence form.

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Attendance

All: At least 95% attendance is required.

Students must log in with their lanyard / logout when they leave.

Year 12: Students must be in school from 08:30 – 12:25.

Students must attend all timetabled lessons.

Students must also be in school for all timetabled lessons including wellbeing, games, tutorial welfare check and private study (x 6) in the afternoon.

Year 13:  Students must be in school for all timetabled lessons, including Social Studies, private study (x4) and tutorials.  They must also attend 1:1 mentoring sessions with their tutor when scheduled.

Impact on Learning

We all want the best for our children and to take care of them when they are unwell. However, there is a strong link between attendance at school and levels of achievement.

If you believe that your child is unhappy at school, or is missing school due to an ongoing issue, you should contact us as soon as possible so we can work to resolve any difficulties.

Setting a good pattern of attendance at the start of the school year will help your children now, but also later in life when they move into the workplace, where reliability is so important. Children only get one chance at school and poor attendance can hamper an individual’s chance of success in the future.

We would prefer all our students to have 100% attendance, but this is not realistic. We track attendance carefully and where we note patterns of falling attendance, senior staff and the pastoral team will be involved, attendance letters will be sent home, and meetings will take place between home and school.

If absence is persistent without evidence, penalty notices can be issued.

If we believe a student is absent without a genuine reason, or if they frequently miss school due to illness, we will investigate, may request medical evidence, and the Education Welfare Service may be involved.

A few facts

• Our data shows that St John’s students with 95% or higher attendance achieve on average 1 Grade higher in all their GCSEs, compared to students whose attendance is 85% or lower.
• 95% attendance is achieved when students miss no more than 10 days of school across the academic year.
• A student who has 15 days of absence each year will have missed half a year of school by the end of Year 11.
• Attendance below 90% is classed by the Department for Education as Persistently Absent.

If you require support with your child’s attendance, please contact our Attendance team: attendance@stjohns.excalibur.org.uk

Additional support and resources may also be found on our Mental Health pages.