Attendance/Absence
Good attendance at school is important for all children. Those regularly absent from school are not only missing out on parts of their education, but they are also missing out on all the other social and life skills that schools have to offer.
We ask parents to consider absences carefully; mild illness is not a valid enough reason to miss a full day's education. If your child has a headache, cold symptoms is tired or feels anxious, please send them in. Our medical team can administer pain relief if required, and our pastoral team is always available to speak too; if it is felt that your child would benefit from going home, we will contact you.
Similarly, if your child is absent due to injury, a risk assessment can be undertaken to support and enable their return to school. They are also able to work remotely in one of our quiet spaces if they are unable to move between classrooms.
To report an absence, illness or planned appointment
Please complete the relevant (Absence Today or Future Absence) form in the Operoo Form Library as soon as possible on each day of absence. An Operoo Form must be completed for each sick day unless in the case of something like an operation where a medical letter has been provided. Further information about Operoo can be found here and copies of letters sent home are in the folder at the bottom of the page.
Attendance Manager
Email: attendance@tring.school
Attendance Policy
The Attendance Policy can be found on the Ridgeway Learning Partnership website.
Punctuality
All students are expected through the school gate by 8.30am. As a large school, it can take a few minutes to travel across the site, so this arrival time ensures that all students are present in Tutor Time for morning registration at 8.35am.
As well as attendance, Tring School promotes the importance of punctuality across the entire student population - including Years 12 & 13. All year groups are expected to attend Tutor Time unless an agreement with the Pastoral Team/Sixth Form Team has been made. Late arrival will impact your child’s overall attendance; should lateness become an issue, either to registration or timetabled lessons, sanctions may be put into place by the school. This could include the loss of breaks/lunchtimes, or after-school detentions to make up lost time.
Some students travel to school via public transport, however, it is the school's expectation that they use earlier transport if required to ensure that they arrive on time.
Our registers close at 9.05am. Any students arriving after this time will be marked as having an unauthorised absence if we have not received an Operoo form to explain the absence.
What should I do if my child is unwell?
If your child is experiencing mild symptoms such as a snotty nose, headache, feeling tired or hay fever, please send them to school. These are not valid reasons to miss an entire day of education; students are able to access our medical team at any point should they need medication - and if it is felt that they need to be sent home, you will be contacted.
If your child has been sick/has diarrhoea, has an injury or is genuinely unwell and not able to attend, please ensure that you log the absence on Operoo as early as possible on each day of the absence. To report any absence, illness or planned appointments, please complete the relevant Absent Today or Future Absence form in the Operoo Form Library. This includes any communication you may have already had with your child’s Tutor or Head of House.
If your child feels unwell during school hours
Students should ask for their teacher's permission to go to the Medical Room (located via the Reception) where the office staff are qualified in first aid.
The teacher will generally only allow students out of the classroom if they deem them unwell. Students will be advised to attend the Medical Room at break or lunch if they require a paracetamol or similar.
The First aider will decide if a child is well enough to return to lessons after a rest or needs to go home. Should it be necessary for a student to be sent home or if further treatment is required, the medical administrator/first aider will call the emergency contact(s) in order of priority.
It is essential that one named contact is available and able to collect your child at any time during school hours, the school must be able to easily contact you, or another designated adult, should the need arise. Please inform the School in writing immediately if there are any changes to your address or home/work/mobile telephone numbers.
Students must not call home themselves and ask to be collected - there is a procedure that all students must follow, without exception. Sanctions will be issued to students who do not follow the school rules.
If your child develops any condition that requires medical or long-term treatment e.g. allergies, asthma, diabetes or epilepsy, please inform the School as soon as possible. This can be done by updating Operoo. Please also feel free to speak to your child’s Head of House or the Medical Administrator.
A list of all students who visit the Medical Room (along with times) is kept every day on a database and this will highlight recurrent visits. The appropriate action is taken; either by talking to parents or the Head of House as this can identify problems a student may be experiencing which we can then help to resolve.
First aiders in school are trained to assess which steps should be taken should an accident occur or when a pupil is unwell. First aid treatment may be given for cuts, abrasions and suspected broken limbs. If necessary, hospitals will be contacted and where possible, parents telephoned, though it may be necessary to carry out emergency measures before this is possible.
If we have a completed parental/carer consent in place, we will give students paracetamol for minor conditions such as headaches. By giving your consent, you are giving your permission for the school to act on your behalf in administering pain relief and accept that we will do so without contacting you first.
Medical appointments
Where possible, all medical appointments should be booked outside of school hours, however, we appreciate this is not always an option.
We ask all parents to please bear in mind the impact that absence from lessons may have on a student's education; students should only be absent for the time required to travel to and attend the appointment and should be present in school before/returned to school after wherever possible. Please remember that all students are only able to leave the school site during the day with parental permission. These should be reported via Future Absences on Operoo.
Medical evidence
If your child has a newly diagnosed or long-term medical or mental health condition, you will be asked to provide medical evidence to support this diagnosis. This could be a consultation letter, operation confirmation letter or CAMHS/therapy letter. This documentation will be treated as strictly confidential but will allow the school to better support your child whilst on site, as well as provide greater flexibility in managing any ongoing absences. Please inform the school by updating Operoo (the First Aid Administrator receives an alert when medical conditions are updated).
If you have any concerns regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Cobby at attendance@tring.school
Mental Health
As we all know, times have been challenging for everyone over the past few years; especially children. If your child is struggling with attending school or accessing lessons, due to feelings of anxiety, stress or worry, please contact your child's Form Tutor or Head of House, or our Attendance Manager, Mrs Cobby attendance@tring.school, to let them know so that we can work to support your child moving forwards. Tring School is set up to support any student who may be struggling in a wide variety of ways:
Access our inclusion space
Access to our Heads of House and wider Pastoral Team
Counselling Services / SEN Team
Term time holidays
Tring School does not authorise family holidays during term time. Should you remove your child from school for a term time holiday, this will be recorded as unauthorised, which will impact their overall attendance and may result in further action being taken by the school, or a fine being issued by the Local Authority in line with the new National Framework Attendance Policy. Please be aware that these restrictions also cover most single-day absences, such as family birthdays, visiting relations or travelling for weekend breaks.
Term Dates can be found here.
Absences without communication from home
Due to an increase in student absences where there has been no communication from home, Tring School is adjusting its absences procedure.
Should your child be absent from school with no reason provided - despite contact from school - it will be assumed that your child has truanted and they will be issued with a sanction. This sanction will be put into place whether your child is absent for the full school day or if they arrive late, missing timetabled lessons.
What does low attendance mean for your child?
Whenever possible, the Attendance Manager and wider Pastoral Team will work with families where attendance is a concern. In cases where this is not possible, the school is required by law to take additional action.
If your child’s attendance drops to 90% without any valid reason provided for absences, they are re-categorised by the Local Authority to a ‘Persistent Absentee’. Should this happen, the school is no longer able to authorise any absences unless they are related to ill health, and only then if official, dated medical evidence is provided.
Whilst low attendance is damaging to education in any year, this is particularly true for those working towards GSCEs and A-Levels. Research shows us that students whose attendance falls below 90% will achieve one grade below their GCSE prediction in every subject. This in turn will have an impact on the next steps for students and their hoped for career path, as well as enrolment to college or university (as attendance rates at school are shared). Late arrival also impacts on a child's education - 10 minutes missed each day adds up to 6.9 days over the year, with 30 minutes per day reaching 20.7 days of missed learning.