Attendance
The Hemel Hempstead School has very high standards for attendance and punctuality as we understand the valuable role good attendance plays in supporting a students learning and progress. We expect students to be in school 100% of the time but do understand that students fall ill from time to time. Our school target is 96%.
What does good attendance look like?
Attendance over 95% gives students the very best chance of making progress at school.
Is 90% attendance OK? What does that look like?
Whilst you may consider the figure of 90% to be high, on closer inspection we can see in the diagrams below what that looks like over one week, one year and over a school career from Year 7 to Year 11.
Week: 90% is the equivalent of being absent for half a day every week throughout the school year.
Year: 90% is the equivalent of being absent for 4 whole weeks in one school year.
Year 7 to 11: 90% is the equivalent to being absent for approximately half a school year during your time at school. That’s the same as missing 6 months of school over the course of your school career.
What does the research say about attendance and achievement?
A study by the DfE shows that attendance is likely to affect GCSE grades at the end of Year 11 in the following way:
- Students with the highest attendance rates are nearly 5 times more likely to achieve 5 or more GCSE’s including English and Maths than students with the lowest attendance rates.
- Students with 100% attendance in Year 10 and Year 11 are more than twice as likely to achieve 5 or more GCSE’s including English and Maths than students with 85% to 90% attendance.
FAQ
Attendance and Registration Procedure
Attendance Expectations letter
Hertfordshire Attendance Team Guidelines
