Attendance Policy

Alexandra Park Sixth Form operates a ‘workplace model’ attendance policy for all Sixth Form Students.

All Sixth Form students are expected to take responsibility for their own attendance.
Students should aim to have an attendance of above 95% to both tutorials and lessons.
All Sixth Form students must attend morning registration and every lesson that appears on their timetable.
Medical appointments must be arranged outside of lesson time and it is never acceptable to miss lessons for other appointments (for example driving lessons or part-time job interviews). Sometimes appointments cannot be arranged outside of lessons (for example, some hospital appointments or a driving test), in which case an appointment card must be brought in to the Sixth Form office. Holidays must always be arranged outside of term time.
In the event of an unplanned absence, for example due to illness, students must telephone the Sixth Form Attendance Office on 020 8826 4925 before 8am or email sfattendance@alexandrapark.school on the day of any absence.

Attendance will be monitored regularly by all Sixth Form staff.
Good attendance will be recognised and rewarded in various ways. These include communication with Tutors / Directors of Studies, Letters to Parents and, for those who meet other eligibility criteria, payment of Bursaries (both 16-19 and Discretionary).
If a student is absent from any lesson(s) without having informed the Sixth Form Office in advance, the absence will be classified as unauthorised.
Students will be expected to make-up for any time missed due to unauthorised absence at the earliest opportunity during their Study Periods under direct supervision of staff in the Sixth Form block. A record will be made and parents and tutors will be informed.
Any student who persistently fails to adhere to the attendance expectations outline above will be identified as a cause for concern. Persistent failure to adhere to expectations could include:
Where attendance is deemed a cause for concern the following stages of action will apply.

Informal meeting with Director of Studies to outline concerns and consider strategies for improvement. Support will be put in place – for example supervision of independent study time for a fixed period. Verbal warning issued.
Formal meeting with Director of Studies and parents. Written warning issued. Contract agreed to clarify expectations and support (for example, supervised study for all periods with no timetabled lessons).
Second formal meeting with Director of Sixth Form and parents. Final warning issued.

Good attendance (over 95%) is strongly correlated to success, but if lesson and Tutorial attendance falls below 85% then students are at risk of not progressing onto their chosen courses in Yr13.
If attendance falls below 85% then students may be asked to pay for their exam entries.