Safeguarding: Attendance & Behaviour
Attendance Matters
Attendance at Glebe School
The careful monitoring of attendance is key to improving the overall performance of pupil outcomes, but it is equally important in keeping children safe at Glebe School.
Knowing who is absent and why, is fundamental to effective safeguarding. Non-Attendance to school or unauthorised attendance, can result in safeguarding action. This is because persistent absenteeism and sudden changes in patterns of attendance and pupil behaviour, are a key indication that something is wrong and could lead to sudden extended absences. As a school, we have a duty of care to take action.
We therefore scrutinise pupil absence, investigate the reasons for this and ensure our procedures are followed. For example:
- Children who become withdrawn, or who start acting differently in class and who are then absent, would be flagged as a safeguarding concern to the Designated Safeguarding Leads and investigated
- Absences may well be due to illness, but they could equally be linked to safeguarding issues such as bullying, family break-ups, domestic abuse, involvement in county lines or online grooming
A great deal of work has to be done to protect children. The key to early intervention, of course, is good communication between our school and strong links with parents. School action will include:
- Monitoring of attendance with accurate record keeping
- Speaking to parent/carers who we make aware that the procedures are rigorous and that absences will always be questioned. Our staff do their best to maintain relationships and trust
- Where there are causes for concern, we make contact with the Local Authority MASH Team, a family Social Worker and the EWO (Education Welfare Officer)
- A Child Missing Education form may also be filled in on the relevant Local Authority Website, to be followed up by the Local Authority
At Glebe School, attendance is closely monitored, staff are well trained, we maintain positive communication links with parents and have effective systems in place to deal with any attendance issues quickly and sensitively, so that we are well equipped to keep children safe.
Parents/carers should ensure that if their child is unwell, the school office should be contacted by 9.00 a.m. The school will make the decision whether attendance will be authorised and reserve the right to request medical information from the GP.
Behaviour
At Glebe, our vision for behaviour management is underpinned by aspirational expectations of outstanding behaviour, which is focused on enabling all of our pupils to access a high-quality educational experience and prepare them for life at College and beyond school.
We focus on a whole school approach to behaviour management, with high expectations for safeguarding pupils through positive behaviour, in order to ensure that our school is safe for all pupils.
The purpose of our approach is to develop a culture of excellence in behaviour and respect. This culture is embedded in a consistent and transparent approach, which is deeply rooted in mutual respect, modelling of behavioural expectations and recognition of the roles played by each and every member of our community. This ensures that Glebe School remains an inclusive school which is fair and safe for everyone.
Glebe school actively promotes learning of behaviour:
- Pupils are taught about behaviour for learning in lessons, whilst moving around the school, during unstructured times (break and lunch) and when travelling to and from school.
- Where pupils are unable to self-regulate or understand the impact of their actions, they are given support from the Pastoral Team in managing strategies to support their behaviour.
- Pupils, due to their Speech, Language and Communications needs, may experience friendship issues, therefore when pupils are ready, we adopt a Restorative Approach and organise meetings to support pupil learning and moving forward with positive conversations and strategies.
- We operate a Behaviour Level System, so that pupils are able to recognise the impact of positive behaviour and occasions where they need to learn how to move towards behaving in a manner that is appropriate in adult life and within the community. The Level System is a visual aid to support and encourage positive behaviours, experience rewards and informs pupils of expectations and the result of not following school rules.
To see our Behaviour Policy, please click HERE
You may also view our Pupil Behaviour Contract below (also within pupil planners):