Lateness
So what if I'm late?
A missed bus. Lost keys. The car won't start. Most people will have experienced being late for school or work or even a social engagement. Whilst it is accepted that everyone will be late once in a while, persistent lateness in a school can have a huge affect. The individual who is late will miss important information and may find it more difficult to gain a college place or work permit. But it is not just the individual who is affected. Staff and other students can also be affected.
Registration and Assembly
The bell goes at 8.25am At this point students should make their way to registration and assembly.
Not attending these is classed as unauthorised absence.
So what if I miss registration and assembly?
Many important messages are given out during registration and assemblies. These may be to do with year groups or individuals. If students miss these then the administration staff have to spend their time getting messages to those individuals.
This is time could be better spent on other things such as inputting reward points.
Students who do not register during registration or assembly will have marks missing. Each mentor has to find out why the student has marks missing.
This is time that could be better spent discussing pupil progress or any problems students may have.
Students who are not registered get a text message home saying they are not present. If the student signs in the attendance team have to spend time ringing parents to tell them their child has actually arrived.
This is time that could be better spent dealing with students with genuine attendance problems such as illness.
Lessons
Lessons start at 8.50am
So What if I'm late to lessons?
When students miss the beginning of lessons they may become frustrated because they are unclear as to the purpose of the lesson or may miss essential information such as homework.
Teachers have to stop teaching the whole class and turn their attention to the late individual to repeat the lesson objectives or other information that has been missed.
Teachers are encouraged to do their registers at the beginning of lessons during the starter activity so that learning can be uninterrupted.
If students are late the teacher has to re-open the electronic register to add the students mark. This takes attention away from teaching the whole class.
If more than one student is late the teacher may have to repeat the objectives and re-do the register more than once. Each time this happens it causes disruption to the whole class.
Please note: Persistent non attendance to registration can result in a fine.
Please support us by getting your child to school on time.