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Attendance

At Weavers Academy, we place a high value on attendance and hope that parents/carers share this commitment fully.

Individual attendance target – 100% each term

Whole school attendance target – 95%

We work hard to ensure that school remains a consistently welcoming and nurturing environment which support learning at each level. However, we recognise that, at times, children find school difficult – and sometimes it can lead to a child wanting to stay home from school.

We hope this section will be helpful and answer most of your queries about Attendance. If you cannot find the information you are looking for, please contact the Attendance Team by email to: attendance@weaversacademy.org.uk

Attendance Improvement Hub
The Attendance Team

There are lots of staff who can help you with attendance. Our committed and dedicated attendance team are on hand to provide support anytime you need. 

Year 7 and Year 11: Mrs Alcindor Gilmour 

Mrs Alcindor-Gilmour is our Attendance Improvement Lead for Y7 and Y11. Mrs Alcindor-Gilmour may contact parents and students to offer support to enable students to improve their attendance. Alongside this, Mrs Alcindor-Gilmour runs several fun competitions to encourage good attendance and punctuality.

Mrs Alcindor-Gilmour joined Weavers in 2022 to give something back to the school – she is an ex-pupil and thoroughly enjoyed her time at Weavers. She has spent several years working with some of our pupils when they were in primary school where she was a Teaching Assistant.

Mrs Alcindor-Gilmour can be found around the school conducting intervention with pupils, often in parental meetings to discuss attendance, and visits the community each week to conduct visits home.

Year 8: Mrs Farrar 

  • Base: Attendance Improvement Centre 

Mrs Farrar is our Attendance Improvement Lead for Year 8 and leads on all aspects of attendance within the year group. Alongside this, Mrs Farrar also arranges cover for absent staff – so her job is very busy. Mrs Farrar also looks after any pupils whose attendance causes significant concern within her key stage.

Mrs Farrar has worked at Weavers for 20 years within the attendance team. Before this, she was an Invigilator here working in the exams department. Mrs Farrar has a long career in education, including serving as a Teaching Assistant and Lunchtime Supervisor in local primary schools.

She enjoys the environment of school life and is keen to see students achieve in their academic studies as well as seeing them build confidence skills for the future.

Mrs Farrar is usually based in her office or will be completing student or parental meetings. Mrs Farrar visits the community each week to conduct visits home.

Year 9 and Year 10: Mrs Adams 

Ms Adams is our Attendance Improvement Lead for Y9 and Y10 and works with groups of pupils on a weekly basis to encourage them to improve their attendance.

Ms Adams joined Weavers following a career in laboratories. Since joining education, she has enjoyed supporting students to be happy, content and enjoy their time at school. Ms Adams has worked diligently with families, ensuring any barriers to attendance are supported to enable pupils to achieve their potential.

Ms Adams can usually be found in the corridors speaking with pupils or delivering attendance rewards around the site. Ms Adams also visits the community several times a week to conduct visits home.

Mr Grantham – Attendance Improvement Director

Mr Grantham is our Attendance Improvement Director and leads the delivery of the school’s attendance improvement project. Mr Grantham has worked at Weavers part-time since 2015 and has supported many families in this time through the roles he has completed.

Mr Grantham line manages the attendance staff and work with them to implement new strategies and initiatives to improve school attendance.

Mr Grantham is not on site every day but when he is, he is based in the pastoral leadership office. Mr Grantham also teaches a small timetable, so can also be found in his teaching room.

Mrs Butlin – Attendance Improvement Coordinator

Mrs Butlin coordinates all the admin within the team including processing messages, writing letters and following up on enquiries. Mrs Butlin can always be found based in the Attendance Improvement Centre.

Frequently asked questions:

Why is attendance important?

At secondary level, the pace learning is so fast that just a handful of days missed can cause disruption to a child’s learning journey. We will always help your child to catch up on missed work where possible but continued absence may affect your child’s ability to exceed their potential.

When does my child need to be in school?

We open our gates at 8.15am and all children should aim to be in the classroom shortly after this point. Students are marked late if their arrive after 8.35am.

What are the signs my child doesn’t want to attend?

Your child may show resistance in coming to school, they may be negative or not want to talk about school. They may have patterns of absence on the same day, time or before significant activities. It is important that you seek support early so we can work in partnership to ensure that any problems are resolved as soon as possible.

What happens if my child is late?

All children arriving after 8.35am should report to the Weavers Road entrance – gate 4. From 8.35am, a member of our attendance team will be conducting ‘late gate’. Names will be recorded of late arrivals and processed to ensure they receive their attendance mark for the morning. Your son/daughter will receive a sanction for being late.

In fortnightly meetings, nominated staff track persistent lateness and this may be followed up by an attendance contract or late surgery meeting in school. 

Children arriving after morning registration (8.55am onwards) will need to report to our main reception on Brickhill Road – our single point of entry. A member of the reception team will sign in your son/daughter and ensure they receive their mark.

Children arriving after 9.05am will receive a U mark – which counts as an absence.

What happens if my child needs to be absent from school?

We do understand that all children get sick from time to time but do ask that you think carefully before keeping your child from school. If your child is needing to be absent from school, in the event of sickness for example, we would expect you to telephone our attendance line by 8.30am to notify us of the absence.

Please note that you will need to telephone to school on each day of absence – even if the absence is continuous. Please also note that on your child’s return to school, you may be asked to bring to the office medical evidence relating to their absence.

If we do not receive an explanation, or if the explanation is unsatisfactory, we will not authorise the absence.

If we are concerned about aspects of your child’s attendance or punctuality, we will contact you to discuss the best way forward. An accumulation of unauthorised absences will lead to a referral to the Local Authority.

Please use the NHS link: is my child too ill for school which includes guidance on if your son’/daughter should be missing school.

Is my child too ill for school? – NHS (www.nhs.uk)

What are authorised and unauthorised absences?

Authorised absences are absences which the school seeks to allow. This can include:

  • Sickness / illness with medical evidence
  • Emergency dental / medical appointment (please make routine appointments after school hours)
  • Day of religious observance

Except in the case of illness, you should ask for permission for your child to miss school well in advance, giving full details.

Unauthorised absence refers to absences which the school does not allow. This can include:

  • Family holidays
  • Day trips
  • Your child missing school for their birthday
  • Shopping

What is the schools view on holidays during term time?

Parents are not allowed to withdraw their child/children from school during term time for family holidays.

All leave of absence during term time must be requested using our ‘exceptional circumstances’ form and parents/carers should detail the exceptional circumstances on which their request is based upon.

A member of school staff will contact the parents to advise them of the outcome of their request. Please note that if the outcome in that the absence will not be authorised, the school may make a referral to the Local Authority who may take legal action against you for failing to secure the regular attendance of your child in school.

How can I encourage my child to come to school every day?

Seek to establish basic routines to sure your child gets enough sleep and gets up in plenty of time each morning.  Ensure that he/she leaves home in the correct clothes and properly equipped. 

Show your child, by your interest, that you value his/her education and school.

My child is trying to avoid coming to school.  What should I do?

Contact our Family Liaison Officers immediately and openly discuss your worries.  Your child could be avoiding school for a number of reasons – difficulties with school work, bullying, friendship problems, family difficulties. 

It is really important that we identify the reason for your child’s reluctance to attend school and work together to tackle the problem early before the situation progresses.

Is there a drop in session I could visit for help?

Yes – our attendance clinic runs weekly on a Tuesday between 9am and 10am. Please contact the school to book in!

A copy of our Attendance Policy can be found here:

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