Attendance

We aspire to high standards of attendance from all students and families and build a culture where all can, and want to, be in school and ready to learn by prioritising attendance improvement across the school. Dixons Unity Academy is committed to maximising educational opportunities and achievement for all students. For students to gain the best from their time at Dixons Unity Academy, it is vital that they achieve very good attendance and punctuality. Perfect attendance is 100% and our target is an attendance of 95% or above or 100% present with authorised absences.

Over the last year student attendance at Dixons Unity Academy has increased significantly. We judge very good attendance to be at least 97%. We are passionate about all students having very good attendance because we know that there is a proven link between attendance and achievement and more than that, the happiness of the young people we serve. 

Absence protocols 

• In almost all circumstances, we would recommend students attend school in the first instance, even if they are feeling unwell.  

• However, if a family feels their child may need to be absent from school, they must contact the school before 8.20am on any and every day of absence. This should be done by contacting the school on 0113 5125530 and selecting attendance. 

• If communication is not made by the family, then the absence will be treated as unauthorised. Like all other unauthorised absences this makes legal intervention more likely. 

• If the student is absent for three consecutive days, a member of staff may visit the home of the student. 

Removing barriers to poor attendance 

• We do all we can to remove barriers to attendance for our students. We encourage any family who has concerns about a possible barrier to attendance for their child to reach out to the school to discuss their concerns. 

• We have a highly skilled SEND department a dedicated Wellbeing Team, an onsite School Counsellor and a large Pastoral Team who are already working to remove barriers to attendance for students at DUA. We also work with external partners to ensure all our children get the support they need to attend school every day. 

• Where attendance issues are persistent and support has not proven effective, we will if required, pursue legal intervention, in some cases this results in fines being issued by Leeds City Council.  

Recognising good attendance 

• We hold recognition events for all students with good attendance. For example, we offer half termly incentives linked to attendance such as the Theme Park Trip and the Cinema Trip. We also recognise strong attendance by regularly giving out prizes to students with strong attendance. 

Medical appointments and holidays 

• Medical and dental appointments must be made outside academy hours. If you are unable to make out of hours medical appointments, you must provide medical evidence, otherwise the absence will be unauthorised. Like all other unauthorised absences this makes legal intervention more likely. 

• Holidays and other leave of absence are not permitted. Any leave of absence will be counted as unauthorised and will lead to a fixed penalty notice.  

Students who are late  

• Students need to be in the academy for 8:18am. If a student arrives after this time, then a 30-minute same day Correction will be issued – families will be informed of this via MCAS. 

• If a student arrives after 9.00am, then an unauthorised absence code will be used, increasing the likelihood of legal intervention and the student will be issued with a 60-minute same day correction.  

Attendance matters  

• In examinations, 80% is often a very good score, this is not the case for attendance. Anything less than 100% attendance will result in a student starting to develop gaps in their knowledge that will impact on their learning and their GCSE examination results.