Attendance
Attendance is the essential foundation to positive outcomes for all pupils and therefore is both the responsibility of parent/carers and school.
Sometimes your child will be ill, or will find it harder to attend school, and so we will work with you and your child to put the right support in place.
We want excellent attendance for every pupil. At all stages of improving attendance, we work with pupils, learners and parents to remove any barriers by building strong and trusting relationships and working together to put the right support in place, at the right time.
If your child or young person is poorly or has a medical appointment today, please call the office and leave a message explaining why. You need to call in every day that your child or young person is off school or college, before 8.00 on the morning that they are off school or college. It is important that you do this so that we can arrange safe staffing levels for every class. The details for reporting absences are:
Downs View School: 01273 601680 or please email office@downsview.brighton-hove.sch.uk.
Downs View Link College: 01273 507719
If you wish to take your child out of school/college during term time then a Leave of Absence form needs to be completed. Leave of absence should only be requested in exceptional or unavoidable circumstances. The forms are available by clicking here or from the school/college office or your class teacher. It is important that the form is completed to avoid any unauthorised absences.
Click here to download the Leave of Absence Form
If your child is going to be absent from school/college then you must also contact the Home to School Transport team on 01273 293501 to let them know that their service is not required. It is not the school/college’s responsibility to do this.
Use of mobile phones in school
Every school has a duty to create an environment that is calm, safe and free from distraction so all pupils can learn and thrive. One of the greatest challenges facing schools is the presence of mobile phones. Mobile phones risk unnecessary distraction, disruption and diversion. Pupils can be distracted by phones and they can also disrupt learning for the whole class and diverts teachers’ efforts away from learning. We owe it to our children to do what we can to remove distractions and enable them to be fully present and engaged in the classroom. We also owe it to our pupils to keep them safe at school.
From September 2024 we have decided that no mobile phones should be brought by pupils onto the school site.
The exception to this is if your young person travels independently or needs their phone for self-regulation in school transport. A phone found at school would be in breach of the policy. On entry to the school each pupil needs to hand their phone to the school staff and can then be collected at the end of the day. The phone will be stored securely. Please note we will not be held liable if the phone is lost or broken whilst at school.
This has been communicated to parents in the newsletter and there will be regular reminders.
Class teams will reinforce this policy to pupils on an individual basis as needed. They will also teach pupils are the dangers and risks of mobile phone use.