If a student is not well

Please contact the school on 0116 2703176 and select option 1.

You should do this by 9.30am on the first day of absence and every day thereafter until your child returns to school. Furthermore a supporting note explaining your child’s absence should be brought in and handed to their form tutor on return.

Regular and punctual attendance of students at school is both a legal requirement and crucial to a student's success - there is a clear link between a high rate of attendance and high achievement. If students are not in lessons they cannot learn! Every lesson really does count! Statistics show missing 8.5 days (17 sessions) of school in any school year can reduce the success level of a student by 1 GCSE grade.

There may be a very good reason for absence from school for example genuine illness and other medical issues, however there are many other reasons that cause students to have time off from school. If there are any reasons which are causing your child to not attend school please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Suzie Porter our Attendance Improvement Manager whom can offer support to your child to improve their school life and attendance.

Where a student’s attendance is below 90%, it is the equivalent of missing 19 days of school = nearly 4 weeks or 95 lessons per year.

Attendance below 80% = 38 DAYS absence, nearly 8 WEEKS or 190 LESSONS per year. At the end of 5 years at Lancaster, 80% attendance would result in a student missing 1 whole school year.

Absence from school

Students are required to attend school for 190 days each year. The Lancaster target for attendance in school is 95%.

Attendance during one school year

Medical Appointments (e.g. Doctor, Dentist & Optician)

Please attempt to make any appointment for the dentist, optician and doctor outside of school hours. If a school time appointment is unavoidable please ensure that your child attends school before/after the appointment. Medical evidence should be provided for all appointments.

Holidays / Leave of absence

The reference in law to Headteachers being able (at their discretion) to agree to leave of absence (for holidays) was removed from 1st September 2013. Only in exceptional circumstances are schools allowed to authorise leave of absence. In exceptional circumstances, a request for leave of absence should be put in writing to our Attendance Improvement Manager.

If the application is not considered as one of exceptional circumstances the request will be refused. If the family still embark on the requested leave, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised. Unauthorised absence will be followed up as per the attendance legislation section in the School’s Attendance Policy.

Persistent and Severe Absence

Since 2015, the government have advised that Persistent Absence (PA) is when "a student enrolment’s overall absence equates to 10 per cent or more of their possible sessions." Therefore any student whose attendance is 90% or below is classified as Persistently Absent from school. 

Following new guidance from September 2022, Severe Absence (SA) has been defined as "those missing 50% or more of school".

If a student becomes a PA student, Lancaster Academy may take legal action through our Education Welfare Service (EWS), dependent on the reasons for absence.

The EWS will instruct the school that further absences cannot be authorised without medical evidence (from your child’s doctor). In such circumstances, a note or call from parents stating absence due to illness will no longer suffice and further absences will be recorded as unauthorised.

Wellbeing Support