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Attendance and Absence
Please call us on 01788 543636 before 9am to report your child's absence.
Please can you ensure to advise of the reason why your child is off school, this will determine if the absence is authorised.
Where a child is absent, and no reason is given, we follow the guidelines set out by the Local Authority and attendance is recorded as 'unauthorised'.
If you would like to take your child out of school for any other reason, including holidays, you must submite a Leave of Absence request form. If you are unable to print you can request a hard copy from the School Office.
For routine appointments during school times, such as doctors, dentist, hospital, an authorised adult MUST collect your child from school.
Good attendance at school is a vital part of your child’s chance for academic success. At St Marie's, we proudly hold high and aspirational expectations for attendance. Our ‘target’ or ‘goal’ will always be an unapologetic 100%. 100% of the days that your child is well, we expect them to attend school. 100% of the time we are open, we expect your child to attend school. It is your parental responsibility to ensure that your child attends school 100% of the time they are well enough to do so.
MONITORING OF ATTENDANCE
Attendance is monitored weekly at St Marie's Catholic Primary School.
St Marie's Catholic Primary School values all children. We work with families to identify the barriers to achieving and maintaining excellent attendance and offer the right services, at the right time, to resolve difficulties. The Senior Leader Responsible for Attendance (Mr Johnston) and Attendance Officer (Mrs Lundy) monitor attendance weekly and use attendance data to identify any patterns of concern, whilst also celebrating success.
Attendance concerns will be raised with parents (when reasons are not known by the school, e.g. recovery from an operation). This information may also be shared with the Local Authority. Where we have concerns, or there is a lack of engagement from families to improve attendance, we will follow the school’s staged approach to improving attendance.
St Marie’s staged approach is child-centred and prioritises support and developing strong working relationships with families. We will use the Early Help process to provide support prior to escalation and consider how we can work with families to enable children to access their right to education.
Attendance figures for each child will be reported to parents termly: as part of the Parents’ Consultations and pupils’ Annual Reports. Parents can also access their child’s live attendance figure, at any time, through the ‘My Child at School’ app. Every half term, the Attendance Team will report on the overall attendance figure, as well as the figures for specific groups, to the MAC School Improvement Team and the Local Governing Body. These figures will be closely monitored for support.