Attendance

Why we need good attendance at St Mary and St Michael Catholic Primary School.

We place great importance on regular and punctual attendance both because it is a legal requirement and because days missed or late arrival disrupt the education of the child concerned and his or her classmates. Good attendance has been proved to improve academic attainment.

Pupils with attendance under 96% have been shown to seriously underachieve, cutting off potential opportunities later on in their school lives. There are 190 school days and 175 non-school days in a year. Plenty of time for holidays, shopping and appointments. Please click on the link to view our Attendance booklet.

The greater the attendance the greater the achievement.

Late arrival/collection

Children who are late for school must sign in on the touch screen in the main entrance. If you arrive after the register closes at 9.00 a.m. your child will be marked late on the class register. If parents or carers are late collecting children at the end of the day, they must go to the late room to collect their child and this will be recorded in the late book.

Persistent lateness will result in a letter to parents and the Attendance and Welfare Officer may have to be informed.

Absence

If your child is unwell and unable to attend school please telephone the school before 9.00 a.m. on the first day of absence, use the Studybugs App or leave a message in the school office.

If your child’s attendance drops below 95%, or is erratic or unauthorised you will receive a letter from the Headteacher; this may then be followed up by the school’s Attendance and Welfare Officer.

Medical Appointments

These should be arranged outside school hours wherever possible. If you need to take your child out of school for any reason you will need to give us notice of this.

Holiday

The school has adopted a position of not authorising requests for leave of absence (commonly referred to as term-time holidays), which is supported by the Local Authority. Parents may request a leave of absence in exceptional circumstances or on compassionate grounds but they do not have a right to it. Only one period of up to 10 days absence in any academic year will be considered.