Attendance and Absence
Student Absence Line: 0117 942 4328, option 1
All students should be targeting to achieve 100% attendance. Good school attendance and punctuality to lessons gives your child the opportunity of success and helps develop skills for life. Your daughter should attend school every day unless there is an unavoidable cause such as illness.
Each year there are 180 days when pupils are expected to attend Montpelier High School on time and ready to learn. We will not authorise absence for shopping trips, birthday treats, non-urgent medical and routine dental appointments and other events, which should never fall within this critical learning time.
It is important to remember that it is up to the school to authorise a pupil’s absence from school in all situations. A letter or telephone call from a parent/carer does not in itself authorise the absence. Your daughter’s attendance will be monitored on a weekly basis by the Attendance Officer and her Head of Year. A planned absence will only be authorised if a fully completed absence request form has been received and authorised by the school.
Missing school seriously affects life opportunities.
Authorisation of all leave of absence requests will be based on the pupil’s attendance to date, whether the absence will be detrimental to their education and whether the reason for the leave of absence is deemed by the School to benefit the student.
Montpelier High School appreciates that students are unwell from time to time and there can be exceptional circumstances for absences but asks that parents/carers think carefully about keeping their daughters out of school. There is a strong connection between attendance and achievement at school. Absence is proven to have a significantly negative impact upon a child’s educational attainment and future opportunities in life.
A pupil who misses a day of school per week throughout Years 7 to 11 misses an equivalent of nearly one year of their learning time in school.
Attendance over one academic year if a student had:
98% attendance = fewer than 4 days absent from school
90% attendance = 4 weeks absent from school
80% attendance = 7½ weeks absent from school (equivalent to one day per week absence for the whole year).
Information about the support we can offer for the welfare of our students can be found here
Key contacts can be found here.
Our Trust policy for Attendance can be found here (opens in a new window):
Our E-ACT Sixth Form Attendance Expectations can be found here (opens in a new window):
E-ACT Sixth Form Attendance Expectations
Requests for Student Absence
The school will only authorise absence during term time in exceptional circumstances.
We will assess each request on an individual basis, considering both the impact missing school will have on the child’s education and any special circumstances of which you make us aware.
For further information about requesting permission for absence, as well as a form to submit your request please click here:
Request for Leave of Absence Information and Form
NOTIFICATION OF LEAVING/MOVING OUT OF THE AREA
Whatever the circumstances, we are always sad to see our students leave, although at MHS and V6 we recognise that there will be occasions when students and their families may move out of the area. In order to aid you in ensuring a smooth transition for children to their next school, please complete the below form. If you need to discuss your child leaving school please contact their relevant Head of Year.
