Timetable, work load, attendance Timetable You will be issued with a personal copy of your timetable in most subjects. Attendance/Monitoring Attendance is essential to complete your course successfully. Failure to attend is a good predictor of academic disaster! For some subjects attendance is compulsory to meet accrediting professional body requirements. Employers routinely ask for attendance information in references. Student Attendance Policy The Student Attendance Policy is intended to assist the Centre in enabling students to achieve their learning potential. This policy outlines the approach taken at ILC to encourage student attendance in order to help improve retention and success rates General Principals The Centre will record, monitor and report on the attendance of all students for all of their timetabled classes. Any absence will be considered to be unauthorised unless there is a valid reason. The Centre will not automatically accept sickness as a reason for authorised absence. The Centre will provide guidelines for students on the operation of the Centre’s attendance policy in the Student Handbook. Student Responsibilities Full-time students are expected to: Attend 100% of the timetabled classes relating to their programme of study as confirmed on their learning agreement; Report any absence due to illness or other reason to the Centre on the first and any subsequent day of absence using the designated contact telephone number Leave a voice-mail message in the event that no reply is received to a telephone call to the Centre; Do everything possible to avoid unnecessary absences by making medical appointments outside class time unless it is an emergency; Avoid going on holiday during term time; Provide medical evidence to the Centre to support absence of more than 5 consecutive days; Give prior notification to the Centre in the event of any foreseen authorised absence. Staff Responsibilities Lecturers are expected to: Record the attendance of all students for all of their classes following the Centre procedure for the maintenance of registers; Personal tutors are expected to: Monitor the attendance patterns of their tutor group and explore the needs of any individual students whose attendance gives cause for concern; The Admin Office is expected to: Contact students at home if absent without explanation; Reporting on attendance Details of the attendance of students will be kept up-to-date on a day-to-day basis If a student fails to attend consecutively, then details of the student will be passed to the relevant authority and could lead to withdrawal of course. An annual report on attendance will be obtained. Appendix 1 Authorised and Unauthorised Absence for Students: In certain circumstances the Centre will deem absence to be authorised Absences authorised in advance Absences should only be authorised in advance when there is a good reason, such as the following: A medical appointment which cannot be arranged outside Centre hours An urgent need to look after a family member or another person for whom the student has caring responsibilities A religious holiday A career related interview A work experience placement which is an integral part of the course Participating in a significant extra-curricular activity, e.g. taking part in a regional or national event Attendance at a probation meeting Attendance at a funeral Severe disruption to a student’s mode of transport (e.g. as a result of industrial action where there is no practical way of getting to Centre ) A driving test Approved study leave or examinations Unplanned absences In deciding whether to approve authorised absence in relation to an unplanned absence, Lecturers/Tutors will be expected to take account of the following: The inherent reasonableness of any case The number of absences taken by any one individual Repetitions of the same reason Whether the reason is backed up with evidence Where an absence could not be foreseen in advance, if the student does not tell the Centre as soon as possible on the day in question that he/she will be missing classes, this will normally be treated as unauthorised absence other than in exceptional cases such as an emergency situation involving a family member. Sickness Absence Tutors/lecturers will be expected to reject applications for authorised sickness absence in the following circumstances: If they have reason to doubt the validity of the case If an emerging pattern of non-attendance is identified If a student has not reported his/her absence as required by Centre regulations Unacceptable reasons for absence The following reasons for absence would not generally be acceptable: Holidays Part-time employment Leisure activities Birthdays Babysitting Driving lessons The Centre may issue a general authorisation of absence in some circumstances – e.g. in the case of severe weather.