At Greenshaw High School we firmly believe that all students benefit from outstanding school attendance. We are extremely proud of our student’s attendance each and every day and we want to continue to maintain these high standards.

Very regular attendance at school has always played an important role in students being successful. Being in school all the time is essential for students to develop their learning. Lessons are planned to build on previous learning, with our lessons starting with a quiz that helps teachers understand what students have done in the previous lessons. Not being present makes this really challenging. In addition, we have sequenced our lessons to build on previous coverage. Simply, missing lessons makes the journey of learning more challenging for any student.

We also absolutely see the social benefits of strong attendance. Developing and maintaining strong friendships is a key part of secondary school.

Fortunately, at Greenshaw we have always had excellent attendance. Since the Covid pandemic in 2020, attendance at our school has always been ahead of the national average for secondary schools, and has absolutely played a central part in our students’ success. Thank you for supporting our students in being the next successful Greenshaw generation by attending school every day.  

We know that illness is unavoidable and is to be expected but knowing whether students are going to be absent from school and the reasons for any absences is an important part of safeguarding. 

We expect students to attend school every day when the school is open. There are 365 days in a year, 175 of which are not spent in school. This means there are only 190 school days. Please click here for our term dates/inset days.

We continuously monitor attendance and if a student’s attendance becomes a cause for concern, we will be in contact with you to discuss strategies and support. Failure to engage in this support and if no improvement is seen, can lead to penalty notices and prosecution, which we want to help families avoid. Please note, if a student’s attendance is consistently at 80% from Year 7 to Year 11, they will miss a whole year of education. 

Reporting absences

Parents/carers are encouraged to contact the school promptly whenever any problem occurs that may keep the child away from school. 

We expect that all students will: 

• Attend school every day that the school is open;
• Attend school punctually; 
• Attend school appropriately prepared for the day. 

We expect that all parents/carers who have day to day responsibility for the children and young people will: 

• Encourage regular school attendance and be aware of their legal responsibilities.
• Ensure that the child/children in their care arrive at school punctually, prepared for the school day.
• Years 7 to 11: Contact the school before 9.00am on the morning of each day of the student's absence by calling the 24-hour attendance line 020 8715 1001 option 1 > option 2 or email the school on attendance@greenshawhigh.co.uk. Please note that any unexplained absence will be treated as unauthorised absence.
• Sixth Form: Contact the school before 9.00am on the morning of each day of the student's absence by calling the 24-hour attendance line 020 8715 1001 option 1 > option 1 or email the school on 6thform@greenshawhigh.co.uk. Please note that any unexplained absence will be treated as unauthorised absence.
• Provide medical evidence where the illness/absence is frequent or long term. If the illness is longer than four days we will require medical evidence to be able to authorise the absence; 
• Make all non-emergency medical appointments during the school holidays (see term dates above) or out of school hours. Medical evidence of these appointments should be provided ie. medical appointment card and the school will need to be notified no later than 24 hours in advance. It is expected that students attend either side of medical appointments.
• Punctuality is also highly important. The school gates open at 8:20am and close at 8:28am. Students should be in their tutor rooms by 8:30am for the registers to be taken. If they arrive after 8:28am, they will be required to go through the School Office and marked with a L – late mark. They will also be spoken to by their year team at the end of the day. Please note that the registers close at 9:30am. Students who arrive after this time will be marked with a U – unauthorised attendance mark.

We understand that there may be rare occasions when you are unavoidably late due to unforeseen circumstances. On these occasions, please make sure that you contact the school office to inform us when you will arrive. 

Holidays during term time

The Department for Education (DfE) noticed that attendance at school for some children had become problematic, so from September 2024 introduced some significant changes to their guidance: Working Together to Improve School Attendance.

Previously, headteachers were able to authorise holidays in term time if there were exceptional circumstances. From September 2024, the DfE has withdrawn the H code and has stated that “Generally, a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation would not constitute an exceptional circumstance”.  Therefore, we are no longer able to authorise holidays in term time.  In the unlikely case of holidays being taken, they will be recorded as ‘Unauthorised Holiday in Term Time’ and the family will be liable for a penalty notice.  

Reasons for penalty notices/prosecution

Term time leave of absence: A school can apply to their local authority for a penalty notice if there are five or more days of cumulative absence due to term time leave. 

Unauthorised absence: A school may apply to their local authority for a penalty notice if there are ten or more sessions of unauthorised absence in a ten-week period. These absences can be a combination of term time leave of absence, unauthorised absence or being late after the close of registers (9:00am). 

Who is liable for a penalty notice/prosecution?

Penalty notices/prosecution are now issued/sought for each parent for each child (per parent, per child).  Parent refers to anyone with parental responsibility and may include carers, step parents, grandparents or any other adult with parental responsibility.

For example: If a family with three children take term time leave of absence, each parent would receive three penalty notices of £160 for each child. This would amount to £960 if paid within 28 days, reduced to £480 if paid within 21 days.

First offence: The first time a penalty notice is issued for term time leave of absence or unauthorised absences the amount has increased now to £160 per parent, per child. If paid within 28 days of being issued, this amount is reduced to £80.

Second offence: If a second penalty notice is issued for term time leave of absence or unauthorised absence within a three year period, there will not be a discount for early payment.  The penalty notice is payable at the full amount of £160 within 28 days of the date of being issued.

Third offence/any further offences within a three year period: If there is a third instance of term time leave of absence or unauthorised absence, a penalty notice will not be issued. Any further cases will be referred directly to Magistrates’ Court for prosecution. Magistrates can impose a fine of up to £2,500 per parent, per child. Should a parent be found to be guilty, this is recorded as a criminal offence and will show on any DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks as 'Failure to Safeguard a Child's Education'.

Supporting with excellent attendance

If any Greenshaw family has a concern about their young person’s absence, please contact us directly for support. We have a dedicated attendance team of three staff members and other colleagues that support our students to maintain excellent attendance. If you would like support or advice, please contact the attendance team at attendance@greenshawhigh.co.uk.

At Greenshaw High School, we are committed to supporting students to achieve and maintain good attendance and punctuality. We celebrate students with 100% attendance at the end of every half term/term.

Please click here for the Greenshaw High School Attendance Policy.

The message is simple: the greater the attendance, the greater the achievement.