St Mary's Attendance
At St. Mary’s, we actively promote and encourage all pupils to achieve 100% attendance and we expect all pupils to attend school every day, on time, as long as they are fit and healthy to do so.
Education is the key to your child’s future and by working together, we all ensure that children have the best possible outcomes. A good education gives a child the best possible start in life. To achieve this, it is important that each child attends school every day and that they arrive on time.
How does your child compare?
| Attendance during one school year | equals this number of days absent | which is approximately this many weeks absent | which means up to this number of lessons missed |
| 95% | 9 days | 2 weeks | 50 lessons |
| 90% | 19 days | 4 weeks | 100 lessons |
| 85% | 29 days | 6 weeks | 150 lessons |
| 80% | 38 days | 8 weeks | 200 lessons |
If your child is absent from school, then you are required to phone in each and every day which they are off.
Research shows that those children who take time out of school:
- experience a detrimental effect on their educational progress and attainment.
- find it difficult to maintain friendships
- experience anxiety when returning to school due to missing so much work
- experience anxiety when returning to school due to changing friendships
In total there are 175 non-school days a year. This gives families the opportunity to:
- spend time together
- go on family visits and days out
- go on holiday
- go shopping
- attend routine appointments
Attendance should be a priority. If there are any problems, please contact school immediately.
Absence in term time will only be authorised in truly exceptional circumstances. Any absences, whatever a student's prior attendance, are at the discretion of the headteacher.
Doctor or dentist appointments should be arranged outside of school hours. Sometimes, hospital appointments cannot be arranged outside of school hours. If a child has an appointment in the morning, they should still attend school as soon as they have finished their appointment. If they have an appointment in the afternoon, they should attend school in the morning.
*Please note the Local Authority has the power to issue fines to families for unauthorised absences.
Absence due to illness
We use this guidance document to determine the exclusion period for illnesses:
Public Health Wales Exclusion Periods for Common Infections
Planned Absence
Parents wishing to apply for their child to be granted leave from school should complete the form below for consideration before booking and well in advance (at least two weeks) of the proposed leave.
Upon receipt of a request, the headteacher and Chair of Governors will make a decision as to whether to authorise the absence, being mindful of government regulations and LA guidance. If the absence would cause a child's attendance to go below 95% over the last 12 months, permission will not be granted. The legislation only allows the headteacher to authorise such leave in special or exceptional circumstances. By definition, special or exceptional trips should not occur regularly. Therefore, it is not expected that holiday leave will be requested on an annual basis.