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Attendance

We offer an extensive and engaging curriculum. Students are expected and are entitled to access the full curriculum. 

Every School Day Matters

When your child attends school punctually and on a regular basis, they take an important step towards reaching their full potential, and are given the greatest opportunity to learn new things and develop their skills. Regular attenders usually leave school with more qualifications and access to greater employment opportunities.

Why we want excellent attendance 

Being Safe in school – Any child receiving an education at school needs to attend regularly (above 97%). We need to ensure children are safe in full time education. The only way we know that your child is safe during school hours is when they are in school and where they need to be.

Access to the full curriculum – At Hove Park School we offer an extensive and engaging curriculum. Students are expected and are entitled to access the full curriculum. 

Sense of belonging – School is not just about learning; we work hard to ensure all our students really feel part of a community at Hove Park School. From Year 7 Big Camp to Year 11 Prom, there is something for everyone that gives every child the opportunity to try something new. 

Life skills – Having good attendance and punctuality is a life skill and it is one that we promote here at Hove Park School, preparing your child for the future in every way. We will often talk to students about what an employer would want in terms of commitment, hard work and reliability. 

Friends – Undoubtedly friendship groups are strengthened the more you are in school. Children that miss school more than their peers often find it more difficult to maintain positive friendships. Friendships are so important for school aged children and that is never more true than when the brain is developing. 

Wider school participation – There are a wide variety of clubs taking place on both campuses every week. There really is something for everyone from film clubs, time in the fitness suite, dance, netball, rugby, drama, journalism, football, Chinese and the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. Hove Park School students have the opportunity to widen their school participation and enrich their future on every level.  
Miss school miss out poster
Miss school miss out poster

Cause for concern

Attendance dips below 97% - Year teams meet with the Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) every two weeks to look at the attendance of all the students in their year group. We have a thorough and intensive monitoring system ensuring that no child is not in school with no-one noticing and taking action to support. 
 
Patterns of absence – During attendance link meetings the Year team, with the support of the EWO, look for patterns of absences. Patterns are concerning but often dealt with quickly when it becomes clear that a student may be avoiding something in particular that they find difficult. 

Increasing days off for illness – We understand that everyone gets sick sometimes but regularly taking days off for illness is a cause for concern. It is best to provide evidence to support absences where possible (appointment cards/prescriptions) so that we can continue to authorise time off. Where possible, you should encourage your child to come to school. A cough, a cold, feeling a bit unwell are all unpleasant but not something we need a day off for. 

No contact from home – Not hearing from parents/carers when students are absent from school is extremely concerning to us. It means we don’t know where your child is and whether they are safe or not. It is really important that we hear from you on every single day of absence. Absence with no contact from home will be classified as unauthorised by the school.

What will we do

Use our pastoral systems to support – We have an incredible pastoral system here at Hove Park School and one we are very proud of. Please take a moment to look at our mental health and wellbeing page.
 
Promote good attendance through praise and rewards – Year teams will drive rewards in their respective years, praising students for being a HERO (Here, Every day, Ready, On time) and having excellent attendance, as well as making improvements to previously concerning attendance levels. Rewards will vary from sweet treats to golden time and discounted Prom tickets.  

Contact you to discuss absences - In the first instance, we will always contact you to ensure we know that every child not in school is safe. Following this you will receive a phone call from either the attendance administration team, Year team or key worker. We will also communicate with you through letters and emails.

Make ourselves available within a reasonable time – Communication is important to us and we will always endeavour to respond to queries within a reasonable time. 

Write to you to set targets around attendance – If there is no improvement with attendance following phone calls, then we will write to you to set targets.  These may be set by Head Of Year or, where there is an escalating concern, the EWO.

Miss school miss out poster for secondary schools

Year teams – We are very fortunate here at Hove Park School – every year team is led by a Head of Year (teaching) and supported by an Assistant Head of Year (non-teaching). Year teams play a vital role in your child's life at Hove Park School. They are often the first point of contact for students and families, liaising with all staff on all levels to ensure the most positive experiences of school as possible. 


SENCO – Specialising in all areas of the SEN code of practice, our dedicated team have leads for cognition and learning, SEMH and communication and interaction. We also have the benefit of a our specialised Phoenix Centre for students with ASD diagnosis and EHCP. Our SENCOs work closely with the EWO to ensure students are well supported to access the curriculum. SENCOs ensure our teachers differentiate the curriculum and that learning barriers to attending school are minimised. 


School Counsellor – Rose Scott is our resident counsellor. Rose provides clinical intervention for students across the whole school and Sixth Form Centre, as well as providing consultation and support to our pastoral teams, social emotional and mental health team and our safeguarding team.   


Safeguarding Team – Our amazing safeguarding team work tirelessly to ensure all students are safe at all times, both emotionally and physically. The safeguarding team link with external services and agencies to ensure all students both on statutory plans, as well as those in need, are getting support and that barriers to attending school are minimised.   

External support services – when absence becomes a serious cause for concern, we may look to refer to support from services not available in schools such as family coaches, Access to Education Team and Children Missing Education. These services are there to support families. 


EAL co-ordinator – We are fully aware that for a number of our students and parents/carers, English is an additional language with some of students arriving with no English whatsoever. We have a dedicated member of staff responsible for students with EAL. We will endeavor to ask for communication to be translated where we know there is a need. If you need any help contact sbashir@hovepark.org.uk .


CAMHS – Please see our wellbeing page . We have a primary mental health worker attached to our school.


Parents/Carers – You are the biggest advocate when you work with us, as it means we can together really achieve excellent attendance and punctuality. We know you want the very best for your child.  In ensuring they attend school regularly, this gives them the very best chance of academic, inter-personal and future success. 


Students – We work hard to engage students with an inspired curriculum and exciting extra-curricular activities. We will always endeavor to meet with students and talk to them about improving their attendance. 

Contacts 

Attendance administration:

 

  • Please contact absence@hovepark.org.uk or call 01273 082858 with any day to day queries.
  • Any member of the office team at Hove Park School will be able to support and point you in the right direction.

 

EWO – Our Educational Welfare Officer, Lisa Carruthers, has responsibility to ensure the regular school attendance of all students at Hove Park School. Lisa is responsible for liaising with the Local Authority and ensuring that the school is meeting legislative requirements. lcarruthers@hovepark.org.uk

 

SENCO – sendmanagement@hovepark.org.uk please also see our mental health and wellbeing page . 


Safeguarding –  safeguarding@hovepark.org.uk  please also see our safeguarding page .


Punctuality

Being on time to school is a life skill and one that we promote here at Hove Park. Staggered times for year groups means there are less students arriving and leaving at any one time. If a child is late to school they will have to make up lost time in either during break or an after school detention. Being late makes us feel anxious, we miss the start of lessons where often important instructions are often being given and we start the day feeling less engaged than we would have if we had been on time. 

Legal 


We want to work with our students, parents and carers to ensure that every child has access to the full curriculum. We understand that sometimes students struggle to come to school and we will do all we can to support parents/carers to fulfill their role in ensuring regular and puncutal school attendance. Hove Park School is duty bound to follow Brighton and Hove City Council's code of conduct for dealing with absences, and as such we will refer cases to the LA. 


Brighton & Hove website link  

Fixed Penalty Notices 

Every Lesson Counts 

Hove Park School attendance policy

Absence during term time form 

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