ATTENDANCE & BEHAVIOUR
Attendance Matters
Every student has a right to access the education to which he/she is entitled. The School aims to work together with parents/carers, teachers and outside agencies to ensure that all students, registered at the school, attend both regularly and punctually.
We all share the responsibility of ensuring that attendance is maximised and that rates of unjustified and unauthorised absenteeism are avoided. Our aim is to ensure that each student reaches his/her potential and in order to achieve this aim we promote high levels of attendance and excellent punctuality records.
- Students who do not attend school regularly may not be able to keep up with schoolwork and this will affect overall performance
- On a busy school day, it is difficult for schools to find the extra time to help the child catch up
- It is not only the academic work but also the social side of school life which is missed during absence
- Employers want to recruit people who are reliable and they always require comments on attendance records
- Being on time is also vital, as lateness can be disruptive for the student, the teacher and for other students within the group.
School Intervention
The school has a legal duty to intervene with attendance at various stages and uses the following stages of intervention:
| Attendance Boundary | Intervention and communication | |
| Stage One | 94% - 92% | Communication with home, Raise as concern at HOY meeting, Raise as concern at TPB meet |
| Stage Two | 92% - 90% | Informal meeting, Contact with parent/carer (SOH) [In person], Meet with student, Attendance watchlist - regular meet with SOH |
| Stage Three | < 90% | Initial Warning sent home, Meet with parent/carer (SOH & TPB) [In school or at their home], Regular meeting with student, 10 day formal monitoring programme - improvement required |
| Stage Four | < 90% (no improvement) | Panel Meeting Meet, with parent/carer/student (SOH & TPB), Written contract agreed |
| Stage Five | < 90% (no improvement) | Police and criminal evidence (PACE), Contact NYCC |
Every student should have an attendance target of 100% however we will always work with families who for some this may not be possible:
BEHAVIOUR
At Richmond School we have exceptionally high levels of behaviour, standards and conduct. Students are expected to attend school, be well motivated to learn and behave at all times. Sometimes students exceed our expectations and deserve to be rewarded, or fail to meet them and thus require a sanction and possibly support to ensure they are able to meet expectations going forward.
At Richmond School we believe that through excellent behaviour, attendance and high quality teaching and learning, students will achieve our school vision of “being the best we can be”.
CREDITs
Staff and students are expected to demonstrate the following six values which broadly cover the spirit of how we expect our students conduct themselves through positive behaviour. The 6 CREDIT values are; Creativity, Respect, Excellence, Determination, Independence and Teamwork.
The purpose of rewards at Richmond School are:
- To motivate and encourage students
- To recognise achievement
- To promote a culture of achievement and hard work within the school
- To foster the nature of competition between individuals and year groups.
Students are then rewarded with a ‘CREDIT’ for demonstrating one of the school values. The CREDITs are added to a total and monitored throughout the year.
During a lesson, students who repeatedly fail to meet expectations follow the consequence process.
Consequences
The school uses a ‘consequence system’ to manage behaviour in classrooms and around school. During a lesson, if a student fails to meet our expectations they will receive a consequence point. Classroom expectations are seen below and are regularly shared with students. These were created by students and developed over time:
Weekly Sanctions
During the week, behaviour points are monitored and the following sanctions applied. The school will notify parents to give them 24 hours notice before an after school detention is due to take place:
Further information about behaviour, anti-bullying and behaviour beyond the school gate can be found in our Behaviour Policy which can be found here.