Last year we took the decision to become a ‘Fast Track’ school for attendance monitoring. This has meant we are able to follow up poor attendance issues swiftly and robustly. At times there are very valid medical or personal reasons for attendance at school to drop. We also acknowledge that sometimes hospital, orthodontist or other appointments are not always in out control, but where possible appointments out of school hours are more time-effective for students.
Mrs Wade our Attendance Officer delivered an assembly this week to KS4. Her presentation was powerful and visually demonstrated the way in which minutes late to lessons and the ‘odd’ day off has a massive impact on school life and learning. Mrs Wade also suggested some useful organisational routines that make the process of getting up and getting into school more achievable. For example :
Routine: Stick to a regular bedtime and morning routine.
- Bedtime: Have a set bedtime get 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep a night. Make sure that when the lights go out, mobile phones and computers go off too.
- Be prepared: Have a homework timetable. Lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before, checking timetables so you are prepared for the day ahead.
- Morning: Have a good breakfast and get up with plenty of time to spare so there’s no last minute panic.
Finally, this clip original posted on Youtube , neatly demonstrates the importance of being organised and that the simple task of making your bed each morning focus’ the mind ready for the day ahead. We have challenged our students to try it!
