Believe Achieve Together
Attendance Matters

At Biggleswade Academy we expect all pupils to have excellent attendance, come to school on time, and should be punctual to all lessons.

Good attendance is essential and gives children the best possible start in life. We BELIEVE excellent school attendance is directly linked to improved exam performance and leads to further learning opportunities and better career prospects. Good attendance also helps to build strong friendships, develop social skills, and increase pupil confidence and self-esteem.

All pupils should aim to ACHIEVE 100% attendance, but we do understand that this is not always possible.

We do expect all pupils to attend school every day unless it is absolutely unavoidable. If your child is unable to attend, then you must ring the school office before 10 am to inform us of their absence. If you do not contact us, we will contact you to ensure that all our pupils are safe.

There are 175 non-school days every year. This time is for spending quality time with family and friends, going on days out, holidays, shopping and non-urgent medical appointments. Therefore, holidays during term time are not permitted unless they are very exceptional circumstances and fines will be issued in line with our attendance policy.

It is also vitally important that all pupils arrive at school promptly at their designated time so that everyone is quickly settled and can make the most of all learning opportunities. All staff should be able to focus on teaching and learning without interruption from late arrivals.

Did you know that there are 10 school sessions every week (five morning and five afternoon)? 100% attendance requires pupils to attend all 10 sessions. Just missing one session will reduce attendance by 10%.
 

According to research, every 1% improvement in attendance across a school can result in an improvement of 4-5% in examination performance.

We will monitor all pupils' attendance closely and expect parents/carers to work in partnership TOGETHER with the school to raise poor attendance. Your support and cooperation will produce high dividends for your child's education and future.

Please download our Attendance Matters leaflet for parents and our Attendance Policy for further information and guidance.