Attendance & Tardiness Policy
Rationale
We aim for an environment which enables and encourages all members of the community to strive for excellence, one of our CREST values. For our students to gain the greatest benefit from their education it is vital that they attend regularly, and they should be at school, on time, every day the school is open unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable.
It is the responsibility of the student to catch up on all work missed in class. Parents withdrawing students from school for any other reason should consider that the classroom experience can never be 'made up' with extra work sent home, and as such, absences have a negative impact on the student’s educational progress and may affect their promotion to the next grade level.
It is very important to ensure that students attend regularly, and this policy sets out how, together, we will achieve this.
Link to our guiding statements. — Respect for the community and the rules we follow. Independence and responsibility to do the right things.
Why regular attendance is so important:
Learning: Any absence affects the pattern of a child’s schooling and regular absence will seriously affect their learning. Any child’s absence can disrupt teaching routines thus affecting the learning of others in the same class. Ensuring your child’s regular attendance at school is the parents’ responsibility.
Promoting regular attendance: Helping to create a pattern of regular attendance is everybody’s responsibility - parents, students and all members of school staff.
To help us all to focus on this we will:
● Report to parents in each Semester on how your child is performing in school, what their attendance and punctuality rate is and how this relates to their attainment;
● Regular communication will be sent out to parents of students whose attendance is becoming a concern.
● Celebrate and recognize the highest levels of attendance using class and year group attendance data.
● Stress the importance of attendance at parent consultation events and relay the message that poor attendance can affect your child’s attainment negatively.
● When attendance reaches a level that may result in serious repercussions, we will have face to face discussions with parents.
Relevant Definitions:
Authorized & Unauthorized Absences
● An absence is authorized for one or more days only if we receive communication from the parent and there is for a good reason, such as illness or family emergencies. A doctor’s note is required for a long-term absence (more than 3-days) to be authorized.
● An Unauthorized absence is recorded when there has been no communication from a parent or if the absence is not for good reason.
● Taking time off school for a family holiday during term time is recorded as an unauthorized absence unless permission has been sought from the Director and there is a justified reason.
● Students attending school trips are recorded as present.
● Students staying home for official study leave (examination preparations) are recorded as present.
● Students required to stay at home due to Health Authority mandatory instructions are recorded as authorized absence (e.g., COVID).
● Suspension is an authorized absence.
Persistent Absenteeism
A student becomes a ‘persistent absentee’ when their attendance record is a cause for concern. Absence at this level is doing considerable damage to the child’s educational prospects and we need parents’ fullest support and cooperation to tackle this. Some of the actions that may be taken by the school are:
1) Meeting with parents to establish circumstances
2) Attendance contract set up between parents, student and school
3) If the attendance contract is not adhered to, then the child will be recognized to be in breach of the pre-existing contract and a document will be drawn up to reflect this.
4) Failure to abide by the attendance policy of the school will then be considered with regard to non-promotion for the next academic year.
5) A warning letter may be issued to parents by the school after recognition of ongoing absence problems.
As per the Ministry of Education, a student with more than 21 days of unexcused (unauthorized) absences may not be promoted to the next grade level at the end of the school year. Excused (authorized) absences are absences due to illness supported by a medical note and family bereavement. All other absences are considered unexcused. Furthermore, students must also attend more than 75% of the school year to be promoted.
If your child is absent, please follow these procedures:
● If your child will be absent from school, email attendance@dunecrest.ae or call the attendance office. 04 508-7444 ext. 3000 A voice message can be left. A notification will be made in the system and the teacher/s will be informed.
● Inform us if the absence is likely to be more than 1 day and obtain a doctor’s note if you wish the absence to be recorded as authorized for a long-term illness (more than 3 days)
● Keep us informed on any subsequent days of absence or any changes to the expected return date.
Absence procedures by the school
● You will receive an automated email or text at 8:30 a.m. where there is an unexplained absence. We will call or email you on the first day of absence if we have not heard from you by 8:30 on the day of absence.
● Telephone on the third consecutive day of continual absence unless this period of absence is indicated in the first communication.
● Invite parents to discuss the situation with a member of our administration team if absences persist.
Request for leave of absence
Dunecrest American School strongly disapproves of students being removed from school in term time for vacation purposes, and family events such as birthday celebrations.
Authorized leave of absence is given at the discretion of the school but only with very good reason. If holidays are taken during term time they will be marked as unauthorized absences. All students who attend a school day trip or overnight excursion will be marked as present. The school will not authorize an absence during the following times:
● When a student is just starting school, this is very important as your child needs to settle into their new environment as quickly as possible.
● Immediately before and during assessment periods, school examinations and IB examinations.
● When a student’s attendance record already includes a high level of absence.
Punctuality Procedures
Poor punctuality (tardiness) is not acceptable. If a student misses the start of the day, they will miss important work and vital information and news for the day. Students arriving late to any lessons cause disruption, it can be embarrassing for the student and can also encourage absence.
Dunecrest American School requires students to be in their first lesson for a registration period starting at 7:45 am. They must be sat in class by 7:45 which means they should arrive at school by 7:40 a.m. at the latest. If they are not in class by 7:45 they will be registered as present but will still be marked late by their teacher. If a student arrives after 7:45 they must proceed to the main reception to collect a late slip which must be presented to the class teacher to gain entry to the class.
The Early Childhood students (Pre-KG, KG1 & KG2) are to be in their classes at 8:00 a.m.
The school has targets to improve attendance and the staff, parents and students share responsibility in meeting these targets.
Our target is to achieve 98% attendance which is rated as outstanding by the KHDA, who emphasize that attendance is the key to successful schooling and high attainment.
The following table can be found in the Parent Contract.
In case of repeated tardiness and absenteeism the following applies:
As per the Ministry of Education, a student with more than 21 days of unexcused absences may not be promoted to the next grade level at the end of the school year. Excused (or authorized)* absences are absences due to illness supported by a medical note and family bereavement. All other absences are considered unexcused (unauthorized)*. Furthermore, students must also attend more than 75% of the school year to be promoted to the next grade.
● Dunecrest uses the terms authorized or unauthorized, KHDA documentation uses the terms excused and unexcused.
