Attendance

We believe that regular and consistent attendance at school is very important in ensuing that pupils maximise their learning potential. Consequently, we actively promote good attendance. A copy of our attendance policy can be found in the pastoral care section of the website.

When a child is unable to attend school, parents should inform the school by completing an absence note, giving the reasons why your child is absent from school. The importance of good attendance is emphasised in the extract below from The Department of Education’s Attendance Matters initiative.

EVERY SCHOOL DAY COUNTS

Every single day a child is absent from school equates to a day of lost learning. Attendance percentages can be misleading.

100% Attendance 0 Days Missed Excellent

95% Attendance 9 Days of Absence 1 Week and 4 Days of Learning Missed Satisfactory

90% Attendance 19 Days of Absence 3 Weeks and 4 Days of Learning Missed Poor

85% Attendance 28 Days of Absence 5 Weeks and 3 Days of Learning Missed Very Poor

80% Attendance 38 Days of Absence 7 Weeks and 3 Days of Learning Missed Unacceptable

75% Attendance 46 Days of Absence 9 Weeks and 1 Day of Learning Missed Unacceptable

 

For some parents, 90% may seem like an acceptable level of attendance, but the reality is that 90% attendance means that your child will miss half a school day each week or 19 days of school during the school year – that’s nearly 4 school weeks.