Inclusive attendance
Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust and its academies are proudly recognised as an Inclusive Attendance schools.
Our unwavering commitment to attendance centres around child-centric actions, evidence-informed practices, and a shared understanding of everyone’s roles and collective responsibilities to promote exceptional attendance.
Our Trust-wide vision and philosophy for attendance
Every learner, every day, in school and thriving.
At the heart of our Trust is a shared belief that inclusive attendance is fundamental to equity, wellbeing and achievement. We are committed to creating a culture where every child and young person feels safe, valued and supported to attend school regularly and engage fully in their learning journey.
Our approach is rooted in compassion, recognition and partnership. We understand that attendance is not just a statistic—it is a reflection of a child’s experience and we respond with empathy, early support and strong relationships.
We promote:
- Belonging and inclusion through trusted relationships and a recognition-based culture that celebrates effort, resilience and progress.
- High expectations for all students: to be present, prepared and engaged in every lesson, every day.
- Collaborative responsibility among schools, families and communities to remove barriers and ensure every learner can thrive.
- Holistic development, recognising that regular attendance supports academic success, social growth, emotional wellbeing and lifelong opportunity.
Together, we commit to a Trust-wide ethos where attendance is everyone’s responsibility—and every child is supported to succeed.
We want the very best for all our students and aim to create a welcoming and inclusive academy that encourages students to attend every day.
We expect that every student should aim to be in the academy every day. Our experience shows that with support from their family this level of attendance is achievable for the vast majority of students.
Through regular attendance your child can:
- Build and maintain friendships
- Progress with their learning
- Participate in social activities
- Develop life skills, increase their confidence, and boost their self esteem
Where there are exceptional circumstances that may affect attendance, for example long-term illness supported by medical evidence, school will work with families to maximise attendance. We do this by recognising the unique challenges an individual student may face.
Inclusive attendance means we care about every child and want to help them come to school. We try to understand each child’s situation and give the right support. We want children to feel safe, happy and ready to learn.
We have a large network of support services that we can signpost families to so that the right support can be provided at the right time.
We use three levels of support to help with attendance:
- Tier 1 – For everyone: We create a school where all children feel welcome and want to attend.
- Tier 2 – Extra help: If a child is missing school often, we give more support and talk with families.
- Tier 3 – Special help: If a child has serious problems with attendance, we work with other professionals outside school to help.
We choose the right level based on what your child needs.
Working together, we can give your child the very best chance of reaching their academic and social potential.
We praise and celebrate children who attend well – not just perfect attendance, but also effort and improvement. We want children to feel proud, included and motivated. It’s about encouraging everyone to do their best.