Malvern Policies

Attendance policy

Aim

To provide clear rules and robust procedures regarding attendance of all Malvern House students and to outline the UKVI requirements and conditions for Visa students regarding their stay in the UK.

Policy

Malvern House students are expected to attend all their classes.

Any absence should normally be only for illness or holidays. It is the responsibility of the student to inform the school of illness or other reasons for absence.

Attendance Percentage:

However, it is recognised that there may be occasions where students are not able to attend school for other personal reasons.

Acceptable Attendance – Malvern House expects attendance of at least 80% as a minimum attendance percentage. However:
Attendance below 83% – Those falling to a level below 83% will be contacted accordingly with an ‘informal warning’ – via e-mail/text and/or face-to-face – by Malvern House and advised that we are concerned at their attendance. Improvement in attendance will be requested.
Attendance below 80% – Students will be ‘required’ to improve their attendance. They will be given a ‘verbal warning’ that they must improve their attendance and are informed via e-mail/text and/or face-to-face that this will be kept on their record
If attendance does not improve during the week but continues to drop since the verbal warning – first formal written warning is issued and sent to student by email as well as text/other messaging channels. An appointment is made for them to discuss their attendance with the School Principal or Director of Studies/Academic Manager. These measures are recorded on the student’s file.
If attendance is below 80% and has continued to fall since their 1^st written warning – Students will be issued with a 2^nd Written Warning and will be given another appointment to see the School Principal or Director of Studies/Academic Manager to discuss unauthorised absences. This will be added to their record and agent/parent may be contacted and notified the student is on their final warning. They will also be issued an Attendance Agreement by the School Principal or Director of Studies/Academic Manager. This will explain the terms and conditions of their course and the Attendance Policy. These measures are recorded on the student’s file. If a student continues to fail to come to school without permission they may be expelled from the school. The student will be informed that there will be no refund made to students who are expelled. If the student is a ‘Visa Student’ they will be informed that it is the protocol of Malvern House to withdraw sponsorship of their Visa – and contact UKVI to inform them of this – with all expelled Visa Students.

Unauthorised absences without notification:

1^st Day absence: Students are required to inform the school if they are going to be absent, or, to contact us to let us know if they are ill or cannot come into school that day (students should contact us on that day, not leave it until they return to school). The absent student should telephone the reception before 09:00 (morning classes) or before 13:00 (afternoon classes).

If they do not advise us in advance, or, if they do not contact us to let us know that they cannot come in on the day that they are off, this will be followed up with them when they return and they will be reminded that this is a requirement. A note will be made on their student record that they have been reminded of this.

Any student who has attendance less than 80% will also be given a verbal warning upon return to school. This will be recorded on their student record.

Any student who is under 18 and is absent will be treated as a Safeguarding Concern and all efforts will be made to contact that student, including contacting parents/agent/group leader/ if required. Ultimately, if we cannot contact a student who is under 18 on the day that they are absent, the Police will be informed.

2^nd Day absence: We will contact the student to enquire why they are not at school. If contact is successful, the student will be advised of the requirement for them to inform us if they are going to be absent. If they are ill, they will be advised that if they are going to be ill for another day they must arrange to see a UK Doctor and provide us with a Doctor’s note. They will be helped to do this if required. A note of this discussion will be made on their record.

Any student who has attendance of less than 80% will also be given a first written warning. This will be put on their record.

3^rd Day Absence: 3 consecutive days of unauthorised absence will result in removal of the student from the class register and they will not be allowed into class until they have contacted reception upon their return.

A full attendance review meeting with the School Principal or Director of Studies/Academic Manger will be scheduled if required and the academic team will be informed accordingly.
The student will be placed back into class immediately after having their meeting scheduled and provided with the class pass to be given to the teacher.
The class pass will inform the teacher that the student was suspended: “Teacher: This student is returning to your class following suspension due to unauthorised absences. Please ensure that the student is advised of the impact of absence on their academic progress and is given guidance on covering the work they have missed and on their general progress.”

In all cases, after the 3 consecutive absences a formal email will be sent to the student and a note in respect of this will be left on the student’s profile. The student will be advised to re-register at Reception immediately.

Punctuality:

All Students (regardless of visa type) are expected to arrive on time for all class start times. Teachers are expected to set standards with regards to timekeeping. Malvern House teachers have a contractual duty to monitor student performance and attendance/timekeeping.

Students may claim to have valid excuses for patterned lateness. Malvern House does not accept any reasons for continued lateness to class. The school offers time flexibility where possible to allow students to change start times where required. The compliance team will also run reports that will identify students with poor time-keeping and meetings will be arranged with them to address this and bring about improvement.

If a student is persistently late (3 times a week or more), then the teacher should report them to the academic team. Compliance meetings are arranged for any students reported by the academic team.

Lateness mark:

Any student arriving after the class start time will be marked ‘Late’.
Any student who arrives more than 15 minutes late may only be admitted to the class after the break.

Illness:

If students are ill, they must inform Reception by telephone/email on the day of their illness, before 09:00 for morning classes and before 13:00 for afternoon classes. This will be taken as authorised absence. If they have been absent for 3 days or more a Doctor’s certificate must be provided. If a student is absent from class without a Doctor’s Certificate, they will be removed from their class register due to absence and asked to re-register with Reception.

Holidays:

Fee reductions or extensions do not apply where a course includes a public holiday when the College is closed. The school normally closes for Christmas / New Year period for 7 to 10 days. Students entitled to holiday must use their holiday allowance

Visa Students on Foundation Courses: may not take holidays during term time.

EFL students: may book holidays to be taken if a course is full time and more than 8 weeks long. Holidays must be booked 1 week in advance and for a full week starting on a Monday. Any exceptions must be authorised by the Student Services Manager, School Principal or Director of Studies/Academic Manager

Absence from school cannot be converted into holidays.

Students must plan holidays carefully as changes and cancellations could incur an administration fee.

The following table details the maximum authorized holidays (per paid weeks of study):

Up to 7 weeks: no holiday
8 – 11 weeks: 1 week holiday
12 – 17 weeks: 2 weeks holiday
18 – 23 weeks: 3 weeks holiday
24 – 29 weeks: 4 weeks holiday
30 – 35 weeks: 6 weeks holiday
36 – 39 weeks: 8 weeks holiday
40 or more weeks: 12 weeks holiday

Leaving Certificate:

The school will issue a ‘certificate of attendance’ to EFL students only if attendance and performance has been maintained and if student has completed the minimum 80% of the course.

School Letters:

A student who requests a Letter from School and has unsatisfactory attendance will have the requested letter held with the Reception team leader, who will personally give the letter to the student after reminding him/her of the student’s obligations and immigration rules. London Transports Student’s (Oyster) Card will also be kept on hold if the student’s attendance is unsatisfactory.

Procedure

Daily Attendance is registered by Tutors and uploaded to the CLASS Management system on a daily basis* Malvern House run a daily attendance report and the actions outlined within this policy are dictated by the information in the report.

(*In line with Malvern House Safeguarding Policy, where the student is Under 18, the Tutor is required to report absence to Student Services and/or the Director of Study/Academic Manager (NCUK) immediately)

Reporting Students: Where a Student that has been contacted to request improved attendance and warned of the schools’ reporting duties, but still fails to attend in accordance with the HTS policies, the Student will have the Sponsorship withdrawn and will be reported to UKVI. If an NCUK IFY student either withdraws voluntarily from his/her course, or is withdrawn for non-attendance, the NCUK Centre Support Team is informed by email ([email protected]).