Attendance

At Pewsey Vale School we have placed a figure of 97% as a minimum attendance expectation for all students to ensure that your child is able to reach their full potential.  As a school we would therefore very much appreciate your continued support in making sure that your child misses as little learning time as possible.

We have collated a significant quantity of evidence in school which shows there is a direct relationship between excellent attendance and successful exam outcomes. Students with the poorest attendance, more often than not, progress less well than other students.

Communication with school

Pewsey Vale School has an absence line for parents/carers to use.

We ask parents/carers to contact the school by phone by 8.30am on every day of absence and leave a message.

The phone number is 01672 565000; an automated set of instructions will tell you how to leave a message.

Medical Appointments

Attending a medical or dental appointment will be counted as authorised as long as the parent/carer notifies the school in advance of the appointment.

Leaves of absence for medical and dental appointments should be reported to the school office on 01672 565000 or email details to attendance@pewsey-vale.wilts.sch.uk, where possible an appointment card or letter should be provided.

However, we encourage parents to make medical and dental appointments out of school hours where possible because even authorised absence will affect the students overall attendance figure. Where this is not possible, the pupil should be out of school for the minimum amount of time necessary.

 Statutory Attendance Marks

The statutory marks for a student’s attendance are lesson 1 and lesson 5 – these make up the 100% attendance mark for the day. If a student fails to attend before the registers close (8.45am) they will lose their AM mark and therefore only be able to achieve 50% attendance for the day.

Students are also registered internally every lesson – during periods tutor time, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 – for safeguarding reasons.

 Punctuality 

A pupil who arrives late:

• Before the register has closed will be marked as late, using the appropriate code
• After the register has closed will be marked as absent, using the appropriate code

Students who arrive late, before registers close, will be marked with an L code and we have a range of sanctions that can be used to remind students of the importance of punctuality.

Students who arrive after the register closes will be marked with a U code – this will count against their attendance. Where a pattern of lateness is identified the usual process for declining attendance will be followed. We have a range of sanctions that can be used to remind students of the importance of punctuality.

 Persistent Absence

The Department for Education identifies attendance below 90% as ‘persistent absence’.

If a pupil was to end the academic school year on 90% attendance, this would equate to four whole weeks off school. This would mean 20 days, or over 100 hours, of missed learning.

Reducing persistent and severe absence is central to the schools strategy for improving attendance. 

The school will:

• Use attendance data to find patterns and trends of persistent and severe absence
• Consider potential safeguarding issues and, where suspected or present, address them in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education
• Hold regular meetings with the parents of pupils who the school (and/or local authority) considers to be vulnerable or at risk of persistent or severe absence, or who are persistently or severely absent, to:

- Discuss attendance and engagement at school
- Listen, and understand barriers to attendance
- Explain the help that is available
- Explain the potential consequences of, and sanctions for, persistent and severe absence
- Review any existing actions or interventions 

• Provide access to wider support services to remove the barriers to attendance, in conjunction with the local authority, where relevant
• Consider alternative support that could be put in place to remove any barriers to attendance and re-engage these pupils. In doing so, the school will sensitively consider some of the reasons for absence 
• Implement sanctions, where necessary

 Holidays in term time 

We do not authorise absence for family holidays in term time. However, we are aware that family circumstances and events can lead to requests for an absence during term time. A leave of absence is granted at the headteacher’s discretion, including the length of time the pupil is authorised to be absent for.

The school considers each application for term-time absence individually, taking into account the specific facts, circumstances and relevant context behind the request. The headteacher will only grant a leave of absence to pupils during term time if they consider there to be 'exceptional circumstances'.

As a leave of absence will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, leave of absence will not be granted for the purposes of a family holiday.

In such circumstances, please complete a ‘Request for time off during term time’ form, available below, and return to the Headteacher for consideration as early as is practicable. Please note that, if an absence is taken which has not been authorised by the school, a Penalty Notice may be applied.

Summary

We hope that, by working together, we can continue to ensure that your child’s attendance rate remains high, and that we are therefore taking every opportunity to support their academic, mental and social development. If you require clarification on any of the points raised above please don’t hesitate to contact the attendance team at Pewsey Vale School.

DOWNLOADS

Request for time off form

PVS Attendance Policy - March 2025