Attendance & Punctuality

At High Tunstall College of Science, we believe that good attendance (above 96%) is directly linked to high achievement and that when students miss valuable lesson time, it can have a negative effect on their progress. It is College policy to work with students and their parents/carers when the student’s attendance falls below the College target.

On the first day of absence, and subsequent days, parents/carers must contact the Attendance Team to explain the reason for their child’s absence. If this contact is not made, the child’s absence will be marked as unauthorised until a reason is given.  All holidays taken in term time will also be logged as unauthorised. For all appointments (medical etc.) we request that a copy of an appointment card or letter is handed into the College Reception for the attention of the Attendance Team.  Where possible appointments should be made outside of the College day to support their education.

If students are feeling unwell during the College day, they must see their Student Support Officer or the attendance team, who will contact home.  We have a duty to safeguard your child and would prefer them in their lessons learning.

Students must not contact home themselves and must sign out at reception before leaving the college site.

All absences will be followed up by Heads of Years and Student Support Officers (SSO) who will work with the attendance team to ensure targets are met. Following an absence, students will be issued with a welcome back postcard

Students with good attendance and punctuality are rewarded in celebration assemblies that take place a number of times across the academic year.  We will also send parents/carers weekly messages via Synergy to congratulate students with good attendance each week.

The vast majority of students at High Tunstall have good punctuality and arrive to college before Period 1 begins at 8:30am. All students should be in college for 8:25am for an 8:30am start.  Please bear this in mind if dropping students off as the car park can get busy so we would suggest you aim for an 8.20 drop off time.  Students will be recorded as late if they arrive to their class after registers close at 8:30am. If students arrive to college later than this time, they should report to the college reception to sign in and get their morning mark.

Sanctions are in place for students who are frequently late.

We want to prepare students for the next stages in their lives; apprenticeships, jobs, college, careers, all require punctuality and good attendance, and we believe students should understand this whilst at school to help shape their futures positively.