Attendance

Attendance Matters

Mission Statement

Each student is important to, and valued by the community at St Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy.  The school is committed to providing the best possible education for every pupil.  Good attendance is essential if pupils are to take full advantage of school and gain the appropriate skills, which will equip them for life.  Failure to attend and erratic attendance leads to insecurities, school refusal and falling behind other students.

Objectives

• At St Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy we are striving to improve school attendance.
• The target for every child should be 100% however illnesses do strike so the minimum attendance target should be 97%.
• The school will monitor attendance (including lateness and/or patterns of absence) and ensure quick and early intervention if a problem is identified.  All staff will encourage good attendance and will liaise with the Executive Head/Head of School if a problem is identified.
• Good attendance will be seen as an achievement in its own right and recognised by the school.
• Punctuality is a key part of good attendance and will be monitored in the same way to ensure every child maintains a good standard of attendance.

Arrival Times have changed for September 2020 due to our COVID-19 risk assessment. Please arrive during your allocated slots to help us ease congestion around school. The school gates will open at 8.29am. Doors will open at 8.30am when children will be welcomed in by their class teacher. Unfortunately we can not have an open door policy at the moment.

Staggered start times: UKS2- 8.30am  LKS2- 8.40am KS1- 8.50am  Reception- 9.00am

Staggered pick up times: UKS2 3.00pm LKS2- 3.05pm KS1- 3.10pm  Reception- 3.00pm

Procedure

It is expected that parents or carers will provide an explanation (details of child’s illness/symptoms) on the first day the absence occurs.  This can be by letter, email, telephone, personally at the office, medical appointment card.

If a child’s absence due to illness continues for more than three days the school will alert the Educational Welfare Officer who may visit to establish reasons for continued absence.  Parents/carers will be required to produce proof of medical appointment, this should be presented to the school office on the child’s return to school.

If no contact, explaining the child’s absence, is made by parents or carers, then the school will contact the home by telephone on the initial day, following this with a home visit after 3 days of unexplained absence.  This contact will be recorded in the register.  Referral will automatically go to EWO if no contact is made after 3 days.