Attendance at School
Attendance at School
As you may have seen in the press recently, levels of attendance in schools throughout the UK were significantly down on previous, non-Covid years. However, now that we have returned to normality, we expect pupil attendance to return to previous levels – as an example, our target for this year is 95% + attendance.
We understand that children may have the odd period of illness, but the number of children who rarely do a full week is quite alarming. The table below (from Sept ’22 to July ‘23) shows the number of pupils from Year 1 to Year 6 we had achieving selected percentage attendances.
% Attendance | Number of Pupils | % of the School |
100% | 7 | 2.4% |
95% and above | 104 | 34.6% |
85% to 94% | 96 | 32% |
Below 85% | 60 | 20% |
Below 75% | 33 | 11% |
- Nearly two-thirds (63%) of the pupils in school had attendance below 94%
- Our expectation is that parents and pupils should aim for attendance of 95% or above. Just over a third (36.6%) of pupils met that standard.
- A pupil on 90% attendance will have missed OVER 3 WEEKS of school.
GCSEs may seem a long way off, but poor attendance leads to significant gaps in children’s learning. This can lead to pupils:
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It’s important to note that:
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The following table makes interesting reading and illustrates the link between attendance and GCSE grades. Arguably, attendance at primary level is even more important as this is when children acquire the basic skills they need to be able to access secondary work – reading, writing, maths and so on.
The following table makes interesting reading and illustrates the link between attendance and GCSE grades. Arguably, attendance at primary level is even more important as this is when children acquire the basic skills they need to be able to access secondary work – reading, writing, maths and so on.
Attendance Monitoring and Fixed Penalty Notices
As Covid restrictions were relaxed, the Welsh Assembly Government reintroduced fixed penalty notices for unauthorised absence from school and we are required to closely monitor attendance, and where there is a concern, we will be getting in touch with parents to discuss the reasons for poor attendance levels and what we can do to help improve them.
If your child has 20 sessions (10 school days) of unauthorised absence, within one term, for any reason
(including holidays, lateness after close of register and any other unauthorised absence), as part of the
attendance procedures the school can request that the Local Authority issue you with a fixed penalty
notice. Fixed Penalty Notices and other sanctions will only be used where parental co-operation with
this process is either absent or deemed to be insufficient to resolve the problem. The action will be used
as a means to support parents to meet their legal responsibilities. You need to be aware that, although
you may provide a reason for absence, it is the school which decides if the absence is recorded as
authorised or unauthorised.
A copy of the attendance procedure flowchart is available from the school office, if you require it and further information regarding Fixed Penalty Notices The purpose of this letter is to advise you that the structure is in place and will be followed. It is also to encourage you to take up the offers of support from the school to avoid reaching the point that prosecution is used as a measure to ensure your child attends school. Our policy is in place to improve attendance. As we know, for our children, this allows them to attain. Please support us and your child to attend more and attain more!
Our absence request form is below. If, for whatever reason, your child is going to be off school for a planned event such as a wedding, or a holiday, we'd greatly appreciate it if you could complete the form and return it to main reception. Although we may not be able to authorise the absence (unless in exceptional circumstances) it will help us to record your child's absence in the register correctly rather than being marked as an unauthorised absence without reason.