1. Change to Morning Late coming Procedures
Starting Monday 18 April 2016
Late coming is constantly under scrutiny and the latest change to procedures is to encourage pupils who turn up late for school, to take responsibility for ensuring this stops and they arrive on time.

2. Why we should come to school on time
Punctuality is a skill for :
Learning: school, classes, course work , portfolio, assessment deadlines, college, university…….
Life: appointments, social events, meetings, respect for other people and their time
Work: no employer tolerates employees not turning up for work on time. They are dismissed.
Turning up on time applies to a lot more that school. It is a skill most of us learn while at primary. It is a skill for life, as well as for getting the most out of your entitlement to an education and to secure your future after school.

3. S1-S3 Pupils- late in the morning
Come into school via the main/front door
Automatic 15 minute lunch time detention in ML6 that same day.
Late coming detentions will be from 12.45pm- 1pm ( assuming most pupils take a few minutes to get to ML6)
Your parent/carer will receive a text “Your child was late for school today and has been instructed to attend for 15 minutes detention pm- 1pm”
If you fail to attend lunch time detention then you are referred to Guidance and further action put in place.
School staff and the PRC have been consulted about how best to encourage different stages to come to school on time. Here are the arrangements for S1-S3 pupils.

4. S4-S6 pupils- late in the morning
Late coming will result in:
Text message to your parent/ carer:
“ Your child was late today. Persistent late coming will feature in references requested by potential employers and for college and university applications”
Persistent late coming ( 3 or more times per term) will result in a letter to your parent/carer informing them that any references completed by the school will now refer to your late coming
And for S4-S6 pupils

5. Notes from parent/carer
Pupils who arrive late and who have a note from their parent / carer providing a valid reason will not receive detention ( S1-S3) or have this instance of late coming count towards persistent late coming (S4-S6)
It is your responsibility to ensure that you get a note from your parent/carer or that they phone the school that morning, to provide the valid reason.
No valid note or phone call from parent/carer will result in a detention / your late coming counting towards persistent late coming ( 3 or more)
Of course, if there is a valid reason for you coming in late on an occasion, then you must bring in a note from your parent or carer or, if for any reason they are unable to write you a note, you have to make sure that they contact the school office when you do arrive at school, to explain the valid reason for your lateness.

6. Some valid and invalid reasons for late coming
Medical appointment/Emergency dental appointment
Illness
Personal/Family emergency
Invalid
Missed the bus
Car broke down again!
Roadworks/ heavy traffic
Frost on parent/ carer’s car
Had to go back for my homework, keys, phone, kit….
I live far away from the school/ out with the Grove catchment
The school has heard a lot of invalid reasons for late coming. Generally speaking, a one- off personal or family illness or other emergency is valid, as are medical and dental appointments. It is your job to be aware of roadworks and heavy traffic times and avoid late coming by leaving home earlier. That is what all the school staff have to do. It is no different for pupils. Make any necessary preparations to ensure you can arrive on time. It is the same for frosty weather. We all have to prepare for winter weather affecting our journey to school. If your parents’ frosty windscreen is making you late, talk to them and arrange a better way to get you to school on time. The school would not make allowances for pupils who live far away from the school. Going to a school far away from your home, necessarily involves planning how to make sure you can arrive at that school on time.

7. The reason for the difference in procedures for S1-S3 and S4-S6
School staff and pupils (via the PRC) believe that:
S1-S3 pupils need the opportunity to learn how late coming could affect their employment, apprenticeship and college and university education prospects
S4-S6 pupils should have learned this and be aware of the risks to their post-school prospects of employment, college and university, if they choose to be persistently late for school
We have listened to people’s views on how best to encourage pupils to arrive on time, every day. And this is why the school has put in place these procedures

8. And finally There is one way to ensure that: You never get detention
Your references for employment, apprenticeships, college and university are not affected
Turn up on time! It is really not that hard to do. Is it?
Most of us do it every day anyway.
It is actually quite straight forward. The vast majority of Grove Academy pupils arrive in school on time in the morning ( at the very latest in the building by 8.42, so they can be in Tutor Time for the 8.45 bell). Most pupils are in the building by 8.35am.
Turn up on time in the morning- On time, feel good, ready for the school day ahead, no stress.