Welcome to Discovery Academy

Attendance and Punctuality

At Discovery Academy we believe that ‘Every day counts.’ It is really important to a child’s education that they are in school every day and on time ready for learning.

We aim to bring out the best in every child and regular school attendance is the key to enabling children to maximise the educational opportunities available to them and to become confident and competent adults who are able to realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to their community. In line with the DfE and Tameside local authority guidelines, we expect all of our pupils to maintain maximum attendance. Every week in our Family Assembly we celebrate good attendance and punctuality with class certificates and awards.

As the Academy target is 97% attendance, any child who achieves this will receive a reward at the end of the year.

We appreciate that there will be times when children are ill. As a parent it is your responsibility to ensure that school know why your child is absent and how long you think the absence will last.

Reporting Absences

  • Absences must be reported by the parent. This needs to be reported to the school office between 8:30 and
    9am.
  • You can phone the school at any point and leave an answering machine message using option 1.
  • You can email Miss Oldham on infodiscoveryhyde@victoriousacademies.org
  • You should not inform or email class teachers or breakfast club staff regarding absences or appointments.
  • If you have not reported a child’s absence by 9 am we will follow our absence policy and make calls home
    or complete home visits.

Absences linked to illness will be authorised if there is evidence of medical intervention. This could be an appointment card for the GP service or walk in centre visited.  Should a child have persistent absence for illness a referral to the School Health Team may be required.

Punctuality is also important for our children. The timings of our Academy day are as follows:

  • The Academy morning session in Nursery starts at 8.45am and finishes at 11.45am or those children who access 30 hours provision pupils start at 8.45pm and finish at 2.45pm.
  • The Academy day for pupils in Reception starts at 8.45am and finishes at 3.15pm.
  • The Academy day for pupils in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 starts at 8.45am and finishes at 3.20pm.

From the minute they come in to the Academy our children are learning and taking part in tasks and challenges to stretch their learning.  The school gate will be closed at 8:50am and any children who are late need to come to the office.  A late mark after 9:30am is classed as an absence and will impact on the child’s attendance.

Absence and holidays during term time

In line with Statutory Guidance, permission for holidays during term time will not be granted as a general rule.

Requests for holiday absence will only be granted under exceptional circumstances.

Holidays requested at the beginning of any new term or during SATs periods can not be authorised for any reason. This follows the Local Authority Policy on attendance in school.

Where unauthorised absence is taken, a fixed penalty notice of £120 can be issued (Section 444(a) of the Education Act 1996 empowers the local authority to issue Penalty Notices to parents/carers)