At Fulwood we expect regular school attendance and good punctuality for our students to ensure that they maximise the educational opportunities available to them. There is clear evidence of strong links between good GCSE outcomes and good school attendance. 

Educational excellence, kindness, respect and community are the foundations for our approach to leading and managing attendance at the school, this is underpinned by our values; We Care, We Challenge, We Commit.  

We Care - We care about our pupil’s education and understand the consequences of poor attendance. We will work with parents, pupils and our partner agencies to ensure pupils are in school, on time everyday so they have the best opportunities to thrive and learn. 

We Challenge - As a school we have responsibility to challenge our students to be their best. Our pupils are challenged to have 95% or above attendance. The pupils and parents of pupils below this figure will be challenged daily to ensure each student and parents understand their responsibilities regarding attendance and the potential impact of poor attendance on learning and that of others. We will do this by rewarding excellent attendance with praise and rewards and by imposing consistent and clear sanctions for poor attendance. We will ensure that those students who struggle to attend are supported in overcoming barriers.  

We Commit - Fulwood Academy is committed to creating a culture where all pupils want to attend school to thrive and learn. Raising awareness of the importance of good attendance and punctuality and ensuring that attendance is monitored effectively, reasons for absences are recorded promptly and consistently and interventions are put into place swiftly to address barriers to attendance 

Our Attendance Expectations:

• Every child is expected to attend school every day.  
• When pupils’ attendance falls below 96% they become a concern for senior leaders. Attendance is monitored weekly henceforward.  
• Daily contact is made with the parents of pupils whose attendance is a concern.  
• Good attendance is rewarded and celebrated publicly.  
• Pupils whose attendance is consistently good are rewarded well.  
• Pupils who are persistently absent are monitored daily and parents are contacted daily to celebrate improvements or remind of targets.  
• All parents are informed of attendance expectations at transition into school including pupils who join midyear.  
• Reasonable adjustments are made for pupils with medically diagnosed serious illness. Termly meetings are held with parents and medical professionals to update next steps.  
• Medical appointments must be held outside of the school day except in exceptional circumstances where school leaders are made aware of the exceptional circumstances.  
• Unauthorised leave will lead to penalty notices.  

We regularly celebrate and reward pupils who have good attendance and punctuality. Each week we reward the top attending tutor group in each Year Group and good attendance is one of the criteria for pupils accessing the end of half term reward experience.  

For more information about attendance, please contact the Academy Attendance Manager, Miss McQueenie on d.mcqueenie@fulwoodacademy.co.uk  

We are delighted to share with you all the good news that we have been awarded the following certificate in recognition of our pupils' attendance during the Autumn Term.  Please keep up the good work!!!!