Attendance / Absence & Lateness Policy

To instill the best education and provide the right nurturing of our children, we should ensure that they do not miss a single day of Madrasah. Muslims have to ensure the one chance and special opportunity that is given to them is taken with appreciation as it will lead to success, not only in this world but the hereafter. This chance can only be truly appreciated if the child attends Madrasah without fail. 

The same considerations also apply to pupils who are regularly or intermittently late. Their learning is disrupted. 

Their late entrance also disrupts the learning of others. Improving attendance and punctuality is therefore a key element in the drive to bring coherence and continuity to teaching and learning and to raising levels of achievement. 

By having a whole Madrasah policy, agreed and implemented by all staff, we aim to support individual pupils, improve the continuity of teaching and learning for all and maintain a positive school ethos.

What might seem like just a few days absence can result in children missing a significant number of lessons and here is a table that shows this: 

The aims of our Attendance and punctuality Policy 

1. To improve pupils’ attendance and punctuality so that they have full access to the Islamic education and Tarbiyyah provided by the Madrasah, in order to maximise their achievement.
2. To clarify staff roles and responsibilities: – 

• The pastoral (Murrabi) role of the class teacher, who has responsibility for registration; 
• The Tarbiyyah (pastoral) and administrative role of the Madrasah Office staff who monitor attendance and punctuality on a daily basis and are in constant communication with families and who compile regular attendance and punctuality returns on the iBeams system and instruct new teachers as to how registers should be filled in. 
• The Tarbiyyah role of the Senior Management team who present certificates for attendance and punctuality in assembly. 
• The co-ordinating role of the headteacher who has general responsibility for attendance and punctuality. 
• The Headteacher and the SMT review attendance and punctuality a minimum of twice every term. 

3. To clarify procedures for keeping registers, monitoring attendance and punctuality, recording reasons for absence and lateness, and taking action on absenteeism) 
4. To promote strategies for raising the profile of attendance and punctuality in Madrasah. Parents are kept informed of attendance issues and successes on special occasions 
5. To clarify procedures for ensuring that information on attendance is included in pupils’ records and reports to parents. To underline the importance of attendance and punctuality to parents.

Attendance

Regular attenders, who are valued, noted and merited for their effort are learning valuable lessons of personal and group responsibility which as Muslims will have a deepening effect on their spiritual upbringing and create good habits for the future. 

The reappearance of poor attendees may disrupt the planned delivery of teaching and learning for other children. 

Pupils miss important teaching and learning experiences, which cannot always be fully repeated for the returning absentee. 

Pupils’ self-esteem may be damaged if they perceive themselves to be falling behind due to poor attendance, which can lead to a decrease in their effort and motivation. 

A pattern of poor attendance can be self-perpetuating, leading to possible Madrasah refusal and/or truanting at a later stage in Madrasah.  

Punctuality and Lateness

Pupils who arrive late miss the valuable start to the day when teachers are introducing the lesson or explaining an important instruction. 

Pupils entering the classroom after the start of the day cause disruption to the lesson for other children who have arrived punctually. 

Repetition of instructions for late arrivals deprives teachers and learners of lesson time! Especially as the teacher must use the limited time available in Madrasah to teach 15 or more students. 

Pupils who arrive after the register is completed cause additional administrative tasks for teachers. Again this distracts from teaching and learning time Pupils who arrive after the register has been sent to the office, cause additional administrative tasks for the Madrasah staff.  This can detract from time which should be used for other Madrasah business. 

The Duties of Parents

Once your child has enrolled, parents/carers must ensure that their children have regular attendance and punctuality, and absences are only for genuine reasons. 

To report valid absence/Lateness, please send a message or call on this number stating the reason for your absence (Parents must notify the Madrasah of the reasons for absence. )

To support your child to maintain good attendance by booking doctor, dentist and optician appointments either in the holidays or at weekends. 

The Madrasah recognises the importance of school education. Therefore, we welcome children who participate in any after-school clubs/booster classes as long as they are on time for the beginning of the Madrasah and as long as it doesn’t affect their Madrasah education. 

Please note, that permission to attend after-school activities during Madrasah hours will not be granted.  The Madrasah will follow the action plan against students who arrive late regularly. One pupil arriving late or being absent affects the smooth operating system of the Madrasah; therefore, please acknowledge our concerns. Failure to comply with this policy may result in your child losing their place in Madrasah.

Term time holidays

The Madrasah will not authorise absence due to family holidays in term time.

Parents should not demand to take days off or only inform; instead, they must take office’s approval during term dates. As such, If your child needs to take leave for any reason, the parents will need to contact the headteacher to get permission before the date; a minimum of two days at least needs to be given to process the request. 

The Head Teacher will have the sole discretion of granting leave. Some factors that are taken into consideration: 

• The Madrasah will only permit term time leave based on attendance, and punctuality.
•  If the behaviour of the pupil/s is of high concern then the request can be rejected,
• Any impact on the child’s educational progress in the Quran or Islamic studies will be highly significant in the decision-making, especially if they are already behind in their progress. 

Unauthorised leave will not be tolerated during term time and may result in your child losing their place in the Madrasah.

Madrasah Holidays

Madrasah Holiday dates are shared with parents at the beginning of the year. Although they are fixed days, the Holiday dates are subject to change with prior notice to parents. 

When the madrasah holidays end, The Madrasah expects every student to return to class on the scheduled day except when extra leave is authorised. 

Action Plan on Unauthorised Absences

For Absences, if the child has 

3 absences in a TEN DAYS without authorisation or

8 absences in a month without authorisation 

 Then we will call parents for a meeting. If there is no change in attendance, the management will come to a decision after meeting with parents.

Action Plan on Continuous latecomer 

For Late attendance if the pupil has

3 late days in ten days without authorisation

6 lateness in a month without authorisation 

he will be told to stay back 10 minutes. This sanction will continue If there is no change, ultimately a meeting will be called for parents where a decision will be made. 

If the parents do not come in to explain the reason for the lateness/absences or are not able to provide a good enough reason the child’s name can be removed from the register.

The Legal Duties of the Madrasah

Every Madarasah must provide information on attendance for safeguarding to ensure students who have arrived in the building are registered. Attendance information relates to rates of authorised and unauthorised absence. Parents/carers of children who are not regularly attending the Madrasah will face the Madrasah action plan (See above).

Class teachers have to complete registers accurately and thoroughly, so the Office staff obtain the correct information about attendance on their record. Therefore, teachers will conduct the attendance register immediately at the beginning of each session. 

Monitoring Attendance & Punctuality

The principal manner for registration and monitoring attendance and punctuality is the iBEams teacher portal. It is a legal record. 

Registration is the class teacher’s responsibility, and therefore, all teachers need to be aware of the correct way to fill it in. 

The Role of the Class Teacher 

All registers will be updated by 5.10 PM Daily.

Teachers should maintain the following agreed procedures: 

1. Be in the Madrasah Assembly hall 5 minutes before, ready to welcome children and lead them into class after registration. 

2. Have set routines for promoting a calm start to the day (10 Sec Countdown/3-2-1 ADAB).

 3. Use registration time to welcome pupils to class (e.g. saying Salam to each child and asking them how they are)

 4. Welcome back and always comment on the return of absent pupils. 

Pupils should understand that if they are absent, they will be missed and that they will be asked the reasons for their absence on their return.

5. Show that punctuality is expected by always commenting on lateness. 6. Comment on the day’s attendance, i.e. congratulating the class when attendance is high. 

7. Develop strategies for supporting children who have been absent for a long time (e.g. who have been hospitalised) by re-introducing them to the class; talking about what has happened in their absence; sharing their news 

Teachers’ practice should be consistent and give clear messages about the school’s positive value of punctuality and good attendance.  REMEMBER: How registration is conducted influences the maintenance of accurate attendance and punctuality records and helps promote good attendance and punctuality among pupils. 

Exams/Parents Evening/Jalsa& Prize-Giving Ceremonies

Attendance of all exams, parents’ evenings and annual prize-giving ceremonies is compulsory for students

• Exams take place twice a year, dates are supplied on the annual calendar(may be subject to change).
• Revision sheets will be supplied to all students and parents.
• Parents/guardians are advised to assist the children in preparation for the exams.
• Parents/guardians will not allowed to interfere in the conduct of the examinations.
• All examinations set by the Madrasah are compulsory for all students. This process checks the student’s progress and determines his class for the following year. 
• A complete midyear and end-of-year examination schedule will be provided to all the students by the Teachers or Headteacher.
• If the exam schedule has to be altered in any way by the Madrasah management, parents/guardians will be notified of this via text message/email or in writing.
• The parent or guardian must notify if a student cannot attend an exam, the Headteacher/Madrasah office in advance; the Headteacher/Madrasah management will assess the case and decide further.
• If a student fails to attend Madrasah on the day of their exam, they will not be allowed to sit the exam after that.
• If there is no valid reason for absence, the student will not receive a grade.
• If there is a reasonable excuse (this includes if a student is ill or has sustained an injury during the examination period), The Madrasah will grade an average mark; 
• this will be calculated using previous examinations and the teachers’ predictions based on class progress
• Examinations dates or times cannot be altered/changed for individual students without the headteacher’s permission. 
• Students have to treat the exam days as any other Madrasah day by coming to attend on time and in full uniform. Disregarding the rules could result in the pupil being removed from the exam hall.
• If any student obtains below 50%, they may be eligible for a resit of the exams at the discretion of the head teacher.

Parents/guardians will be informed in writing of when parents’ evenings are to take place, however, please note, that parents may be summoned to the Madrasah if their child’s progress is not deemed sufficient enough. We also encourage all parents to visit the Madrasah in the event of any concerns they have regarding their child i.e. work, behaviour etc. However, please book an appointment with the Head Teacher.

Trips

On certain occasions the Madrasah will embark on trips or other recreational activities with the pupils, this is to break the term and to refresh the children. We encourage all parents to send their children on these outings to enhance their all-round skills. If requested by the Madrasah team, please complete and return the permission/waiver slips as soon as possible. Parents may also assist as volunteers if requested to do so by the Madrasah.