Attendance drops sharply after the first exclusion

Break is fifteen minutes and the queue for food is longer

The school is measured on attendance percentage, not on who is missing

Uniform rules are enforced at the gate and pupils are sent home

The first lesson on Monday is the most missed of the week

The first contact home is a warning, never a question

Some families keep children home on days they cannot afford lunch

Sanctions escalate faster than any support does

Toilets are locked during lessons and some pupils will not risk it

Older siblings' history with the school shapes the family's attitude

Pupils say nobody would notice if they were not there

Teachers mark a late arrival the same as a full absence

Fines are issued to families who cannot pay them

Pupils with a friend absent are more likely to be absent themselves

Pupils who fall behind stop coming rather than sit in lessons they cannot follow

A quarter of absences are medical appointments booked in school time

Nobody at school knows which pupils are young carers

The bus is unreliable in the mornings for the estate furthest away

A pupil's absence record follows them but the reasons do not

Reintegration after a long absence is left to the pupil

The pastoral team lost two posts in the last budget

Cover lessons with a supply teacher are the ones pupils skip

Letters home are the same template whatever the reason for absence

Attendance officers spend the day on the phone, not in the building

Parents contact the school only when the school has contacted them first

Anxiety is the reason given most, and there is a waiting list to see anyone

Form tutors have five minutes with thirty pupils

Year 9 is where the pattern starts, and nothing changes in Year 9