Holy Child School, Killiney
Attendance Policy
AttendancePolicy
School Mission Statement:
Holy Child School, Killiney is a Catholic school in the network of schools of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, founded by Cornelia Connelly (1809 – 1879). It is committed to her educational philosophy: “to academic challenge and the joy of learning”.
Our mission is to nurture the intellectual, spiritual, artistic, social and physical development of each student in an atmosphere of openness and trust. We encourage our students to emerge as mature young women who are strong in faith and who are confident, caring and capable of making decisions that enrich their own lives and contribute to the lives of others.
Introduction/Rationale
Following the Education Welfare Act 2000 s22 (1) the school is required to …..prepare and submit to the Board a statement of strategies and measures it proposes to adopt, for the purposes of fostering an appreciation of learning among students attending the school and encouraging regular attendance at school on the part of such students……..
Under the Act, every child must attend school regularly up to 16 years of age or complete at least three years education in a post primary school, whichever comes later. Tusla (The national Child and Family Agency) has been established to support school attendance and follow up on children who are not attending school regularly.
Relationship to the general spirit of school:
Further to our stated aim of ‘nurturing the intellectual, spiritual, artistic, social and physical development of each student in an atmosphere of openness and trust’, we believe that there are many benefits for students who attend school regularly:
  • School attendance contributes to personal and social development – school is where friendships are made and students learn to develop interpersonal skills with other students and teachers. Good attendance maintains these relationships and prevents friend and staff alienation which can result from periods of absence.
  • Self-esteem and confidence are developed as a result of regular attendance at school.
  • Good school attendance is a positive habit learned, and this habit and dedication can be carried on to future studies.
  • The strength of the link between good attendance and the student’s performance in examinations is confirmed in several research studies.

Holy Child School, Killiney
Attendance Policy
Aims and Objectives:
The aim of this policy is to:
Communicate our high expectations of good attendance.
Ensure that attendance and punctuality is a priority for all stakeholders in the school including students, parents and teachers.
Outline procedures and data collection regarding attendances, which aim to identify quickly any student at risk.
Maintain and develop positive and consistent communication between home and school should absences persist.
Recognise the needs of the individual student when dealing with attendance related issues or planning reintegration following a significant period of absence.
Attendance and Punctuality:
A student should attend school every day. It is the responsibility of the parent to ensure that their daughter only misses school due to illness or an unavoidable circumstance. Medical/dental appointments should be made outside of school hours whenever possible. Students should not be taken out of school during term time for inconsequential/non-urgent family reasons.
If a student misses a day from school it is the responsibility of the parent to notify the school of this absence at the earliest possible opportunity. A message can be telephoned into the school office or an email sent to Students returning to school following an absence must have a written note of explanation from their parent. There are dockets at the back of the student’s journal for this purpose.
Parents should ensure that their daughter arrives to school punctually. Students should arrive at least 10 minutes before the beginning of the school day – this gives them time to go to their locker and organise the books and equipment they require for classes.
It is school policy that students with 3 or more unexplained lates per term will receive an early morning Friday detention. Parents are informed in writing by the Deputy Principal of these detentions and we ask that parents’ support the school by ensuring their daughter attends any detention given. The Deputy Principal will maintain a list of students in detention. Parents can monitor punctuality to school by checking the journal for late stamps.
It is recognised that there may be unavoidable circumstances when a student may arrive late e.g. transport difficulties. The school adopts a flexible approach in these circumstances and works to support parents and students in any way possible.
Students must be in their tutor room at the beginning of registration each morning (8:45am). It is unacceptable for students to send messages to their tutor via other students as to their whereabouts during registration.
On arrival back to school following an absence, students should show their note to the tutor during morning registration. It is expected that in all cases of absence, students will catch up with work missed at the earliest opportunity.
Holy Child School, Killiney
Attendance Policy
Late Arrival/Leaving Early:
If a student arrives late to school in the morning, she will be signed in at the front door by the school secretary and receive a late stamp in her journal. Failure to sign in late is a serious breach of the school Code of Conduct and students will be disciplined accordingly.
If they have attended an ‘off campus’ event, students are expected to return to school punctually and in line with the time scale offered by the teacher in charge of the event.
No student may leave the school without explicit permission from the Deputy Principal / Year Head / senior member of staff/ her Form Tutor.
Students who leave the school during the day are required to sign out in the school office, giving the time and the reason.
Students from 1st -3rd year who are unwell must sign out and be collected by parents/guardians.
Implementation of the policy:
A computerized system is currently used in Holy Child to gather and analyse attendance related data.
While a whole school approach is necessary, key members of staff are responsible for ensuring the implementation of the Attendance Policy.
Deputy Principal/Year Head
In liaison with the Year Head and tutors, the Deputy Principal will monitor attendance and ensure quick and early intervention if a problem is identified. The tutors can discuss attendance with parents at the parent teacher meetings or, if necessary, the Year Head can liaise with parents where a regular pattern of absences or lateness to school emerges. A record of phone calls/meeting will be written up and placed in the student’s file.
The Deputy Principal will monitor the completion of the morning roll call. Any incomplete roll calls (i.e. should the computerized system be down) are followed up to ensure that accurate records of attendance and punctuality are maintained. In the event of a technical difficulty, staff are asked to take a paper roll call and update the records when the system is working again.
The Deputy Principal is responsible for notifying the parents when a student has exceeded 20 absent days and for making the appropriate attendance returns to Tusla.
The school is sensitive to the individual needs and circumstances of its students and is aware that some students need encouragement to attend school regularly. The Year Head/Form Tutor and care team will support the students in overcoming difficulties relating to attendance.
Tutor
The tutor is responsible for taking the official roll call each day during morning registration. During this time, the tutor should follow up on absences and collect notes from parents explaining these absences.
Holy Child School, Killiney
Attendance Policy
School Secretary
The school secretary is responsible for amending the computerized registration system so that records of attendance and punctuality are maintained accurately.
Subject Teacher
Using the schools administration system, the subject teacher is responsible for taking a roll call at the beginning of each lesson. These records can be used should an issue arise regarding a student’s whereabouts at a given time. Subject teachers should inform the tutor if a pattern of absence/lateness emerges for any student in the group. The subject teacher may also communicate any such concerns to the parent through the student journal.
The school recognises that good attendance is achieved when students feel happy, secure and part of the school community. It is through encouraging the full participation of all students in all aspects of school life that we strive to promote their personal development and academic progress.
As part of the School Self Evaluation process and in order to maintain best practice, Holy Child Killiney will monitor, review and evaluate this policy and all related work and procedures on an on-going basis.
Signed: ______Date: ______
Dr. Eileen O’Connor
Chairperson, Board of Management
Signed: ______Date: ______
Mrs. Gerardine Hackett
Principal
Holy Child School, Killiney