PE ATTENDANCE POLICY AND GRADING SYSTEM

Pursuant to the provisions of the Statute of Savremena International School, the School Board of Savremena International School, at the meeting held on 22 August 2019, adopted the following:

PE ATTENDANCE POLICY AND GRADING SYSTEM

1. Aim

This document regulates the rules and procedures for the subject Physical Education (PE). It aims at providing a detailed description of the PE attendance policy and the grading system, using the Cambridge percentage uniform mark system as a framework.

This policy has a complementary Google Sheet, which records attendance and uses a formula to work out an attendance percentage and a corresponding final grade.

2. ATTENDANCE POLICY FOR PE

ARTICLE 1
Students' obligations

Students are obliged to attend PE lessons regularly, according to the timetable. Their attendance is monitored by the PE teachers and class teachers and serves as a factor in marking students towards the final grade at the end of term one and term three.

Students are obliged to bring their sports uniform for PE lessons. Otherwise, their presence will not be noted as attendance.

Students are obliged to actively participate in all PE activities, as instructed by the PE teachers. If a student is injured or temporarily incapacitated (on period, nauseous, exhausted or similar), they must inform the PE teachers immediately.

If a student is unable to attend a PE lesson, they are obliged to provide a justification document, such as doctor's recommendation or similar, stating a clear cause for incapacity to engage in physical activity. A student is obliged to bring a notice prior to a PE lesson and hand it over either to the PE teacher or the class teacher. To avoid any unjust manipulation with the attendance record, late recommendations will not be accepted.

If a student is unable to attend a PE lesson for planned personal reasons, they are obliged to ask their parents to inform the class teacher of such a case in advance. To avoid any unjust manipulation with the attendance record, late authorisations will not be accepted.

If a student is professionally engaged in sports, they might still like to attend PE lessons in order to ensure a grade. Otherwise, they are obliged to bring a statement from their sports club, which would release them from regular PE attendance. Such a statement must be submitted at the beginning of the school year. Students who do not submit the club statement duly, but still skive off, will be graded accordingly.

In circumstantial cases such as to attend a meeting, tutoring, competitions, exams etc., a class teacher can authorise a student's absence and inform the PE teachers accordingly.

ARTICLE 2
Parents' obligations

Parents are obliged to follow their students attendance by observing the Platform for Parents, where they can view their child's/children's performance.

Parents are obliged to ensure that their child/children hand in authorisation for any kind of absence. If their child/children bring a doctor's recommendation for a temporary incapacity to engage in physical activity, parents are obliged to sign it as well, with a notice APPROVED BY PARENT(S). To avoid any unjust manipulation with the attendance record, late recommendations will not be accepted.

Parents are obliged to announce any planned personal absence in advance by sending an email to the class teacher. To avoid any unjust manipulation with the attendance record, late authorisations will not be accepted.

If a student is a professional athlete, and parents wish to release them from attending PE lessons, they are obliged to provide a statement from the sports club at the beginning of the school year. To avoid any unjust manipulation with the attendance record, parents are requested to duly inform the class teacher of any concerns regarding the PE attendance.

ARTICLE 3
PE teachers' obligations

PE teachers are obliged to keep students' attendance in the e-diary and the Google Sheet, which makes a complementary document to this attendance policy. Students' attendance is recorded for every PE lesson by ticking a box for a corresponding week. By doing so, both the PE teachers and class teachers are able to follow the progress of students' attendance and react in a timely manner to their skiving off.

In the note section, PE teachers are obliged to write any special consideration such as long-term illness or injury, as well as professional sport practice outside of school. In order for any special consideration to be taken into account, a student needs to provide the class teacher and PE teachers with required documents, such as doctor’s notes or statements from sports clubs. These documents must be submitted in a timely manner and the PE teachers will not accept any late submissions.

PE teachers are obliged to add comments for absences that are authorised (period, injury or illness) and tick the corresponding box.

PE teachers are obliged to cooperate with a student's class teacher and/or mentor and bring to their attention any concerns regarding the PE attendance and/or active participation.

ARTICLE 4
Class teachers' obligations

Class teachers are obliged to monitor their students' PE attendance together with the PE teachers.

Class teachers are obliged to remind the students of the PE attendance policy if they notice that the students skive off or avoid PE lessons without a just cause.

Class teachers are obliged to advise the students and their parents if they notice that absence authorisation is missing.

Class teachers are obliged to cooperate with the PE teachers and mentors, and bring to their attention any concerns regarding the PE attendance and/or active participation.

Class teachers are obliged to collect and file any evidence of students' authorised absence such as doctor's recommendations for temporary incapacity to engage in physical activity, parents' announcements for planned personal reasons for absence, clubs statements etc. To avoid any unjust manipulation with the attendance record, class teachers are not able to make any corrections in the attendance sheet, which is kept by the PE teachers. However, they are obliged to make comments if they notice any discrepancy in the attendance record.

PE teachers and class teachers are obliged to show the attendance record to the students upon their request.

3. GRADING SYSTEM

Unlike other Cambridge subjects, where grading reflects the students' academic performance, the grading system for PE rests on the students' moral norms and their personal responsibility to mental and physical health. In this regard, the grading system for PE relies on the attendance policy and students' grades depend on their attendance and active participation in all PE activities as instructed by the PE teachers.

ARTICLE 5
The PE grades

The PE grades are two-dimensional:

• attendance grade (A* - U) is based on the students' attendance, represented as a percentage (100% - 0%);
• effort grade (1 - 4) is based on the students' active participation in the PE activities.

The attendance grade is gradually built during the term. Each student starts with 0% (U) and scores up with regular attendance towards 100% (A*). The grades are aligned with the Cambridge percentage uniform mark system (Table 1) and a student can observe their attendance on the Platform for Students.

Therefore, transparency of the attendance policy directly affects the final grades.

The effort grade is gradually built during the term. Each student is scored on active participation in all PE activities as instructed by the PE teachers.

Therefore, active participation directly affects the final grades.

ARTICLE 6
Affirmative measures

PE attendance policy and grading system are introduced as affirmative measures for fostering a culture of students' mental and physical health. In this regard, all stakeholders (students, parents and teachers) are encouraged to support the attendance policy and grading system in good faith.

4. FINAL PROVISIONS

ARTICLE 7

Savremena International School’s PE Attendance Policy and Grading System shall enter into force on the eighth day following its publication on the school notice board.

Nikola Subotić,
President of the School Board