Attendance

Important Changes to Reporting Student Absence

At Woodrush High School, we firmly believe that regular school attendance is vital to your child’s development, not only academically, but also socially and emotionally.

School is where friendships are formed, ideas are exchanged and lifelong skills are developed. Every day missed represents a missed opportunity for your child to engage with their peers and teachers and benefit from the wide range of learning experiences we offer.

Strong, Supportive Relationships

We are committed to fostering a culture of belonging and attendance so that every child has the opportunity to thrive.

Strong communication and supportive relationships between school and home are central to improving attendance. They also help our students to feel that they belong, enabling them to engage, achieve and thrive at school.

We will continue to work proactively to ensure that students feel welcomed, supported and encouraged to attend school every day. Our Inclusion Team works closely with students and families to understand any individual circumstances that may affect engagement, wellbeing or attendance.

Reporting Absence at Woodrush

All parents/carers must complete an absence form by 8:25am every day if their child is absent from school.
Absences must be reported using the Woodrush High School: Absence Form - Spring 2026 – Fill out form.
Medical appointments must be reported with at least 48 hours’ notice (when possible) using the Woodrush High School: Medical appointments only - Spring 2026 – Fill out form. Appointment letter or text with date and time of appointment to be emailed to school office reception@woodrush.org.
Both forms will be accessible via the school website or using the links provided.
Phone calls or emails to the school office will no longer be accepted for reporting absence and parents/carers will be redirected to complete the appropriate form.

We appreciate your cooperation and thank you for your continued support in helping us maintain strong attendance and communication.

You can access the Absence forms using the links below:

Absence Form

Medical Appointments Form

Why is attendance so important?

We believe it is vitally important to attend school regularly and on time
This gives the best opportunity for each student to progress and achieve their full potential
Regular school attendance keeps students safe
Poor attendance decreases life chances and student outcomes
A child is twice as likely to get 5 good GCSE’s at Grade 5+ with an attendance of >96%

Our Standards

The government expects schools and local authorities to:

Promote good attendance and reduce absence, including persistent absence (students attending less than 90% of the time)
Ensure every child has access to full time education to which they are entitled
Act early to address patterns of poor attendance and
Parents to perform their legal duty by ensuring their children of compulsory school age, who are registered at school, attend regularly

We believe family holidays should not be taken during term time. We will not authorise requests for holidays in line with section 444 of the Education Act 1996 - Offence: failure to secure regular attendance at school of registered pupil.

Punctuality

It is the responsibility of parents and carers to ensure that their child attends school every day and on time
Students who arrive late to school (after the 8.25am bell) will have to sign in with a member of staff at the main gate. (8.45am on Wednesday)
Each late mark to morning registration or to a lesson will incur a C1 – Lateness to school
Students will receive a sanction depending on the number of lates occurred in a week.
If a student arrives after 8.45am, they will be issued with a C2 detention Lateness to school and a phone call home will be made the same day.
Our Year Teams will work with parents to overcome barriers which prevent students arriving on time

Please see below for a copy of our Attendance Information Booklet for Parents and Attendance Newsletters.