Attendance

Welcome to the TDA Attendance Hub. Here you will find a range of useful resources for supporting your child’s attendance, links to our attendance policy, and key contacts for the attendance team at TDA.

Students that attend at least 95% of the time at TDA achieve above national average in their GCSE exams (Summer 2023, Summer 2024).

Attendance Policy 2024 Final (Updated From 2023)

There are a range of skilled staff at TDA that are well placed to offer advice, support, and intervention related to your child’s attendance. The key contacts are listed in the table below.

TDA Breakfast Club

Did you know? TDA students can get their day off to a flying start with our Breakfast Club from 08:20 onwards. A range of grab-and-go breakfast items are available every day, free of charge. Let’s set our alarms set and arrive with time to spare to relax with friends and enjoy a snack.
Our cafeteria Breakfast Club is aimed at easing time pressure in the morning for students and families, and to reduce the anxiety of arriving late for school. You are guaranteed to be on time for school if you head to Breakfast Club.

Attendance Newsletters

Please visit this page regularly to catch up on our attendance-specific newsletters. These will also be posted to our social media channels

Attendance Newsletter Autumn 2023

Attendance Newsletter February 2024

Attendance Newsletter Summer 2024

Attendance Rewards

At TDA we are always keen to recognise students that show excellence in their attendance, but also where students have demonstrated improved attendance at school. Some examples of rewards your child is able to earn by showing strong attendance are;

  • Weekly recognition points from their Coach for 100% attendance.
  • Recognition certificates in half-termly year group rewards assemblies.
  • Letters home celebrating excellent attendance.
  • Year-group-specific competitions that lead to rewards afternoons with attendance as a determining factor.
  • Spot prizes for 100% weekly attendance – Greggs, Costa Coffee, Odeon cinema as examples.
  • Friday attendance rewards with free chicken & chips plus cafeteria queue jump for the winners. Winners can also take a friend for the queue jump.
  • End of term / year whole-school trips, for example to a theme park for students demonstrating excellence in attendance combined with outstanding attitudes to learning.

All of these rewards are achievable for all students and highlight our desire to reward students that value their attendance highly.

Term Time Holidays, Appointments, and Fixed Penalty Notices

FPN Information From 19 August 2024

It is crucial for all parents and carers to understand that that holidays during term time must be applied for via a form from the academy reception, but will not be authorised under any circumstance. Any examples of families taking their children out of school to go on holiday will be issued with an FPN (Fixed Penalty Notice) charge. Please read the FPN information from 19 August 2024 above for updated guidance from the 2024-25 academic year onwards. Whilst we understand that holiday companies charge higher costs during the school holidays, it is unacceptable to remove children from their education for this purpose.

Exceptional reasons for leave need to be communicated with your child’s Head of Year and / or Pastoral Leader with plenty of notice, for example for authorised sporting commitments, religious observance, or for a bereavement.

We also discourage families from making routine medical and dental appointments during the academy day. We understand it can be challenging to secure appointments in the current national context, however we seek for our families to work with us on keeping children in the academy during opening hours.

We thank our families for working with us in this matter.