It is a statutory requirement for all schools to attain attendance levels set by the Government. St Mary’s Fields Primary School's attendance target this year is 96%. However the aim is for all individual pupils to have 100% attendance.

If a child’s attendance falls below 91% they will be deemed a Persistent Absentee. St Mary’s monitors absence of all children that fall below 96%. Lateness affects children’s attendance levels. If a child does become a ‘persistent absentee’, the school and the Local Authority have a legal duty to act to support parents to improve attendance. The school’s Education Welfare Officer also monitors attendance levels and regular meetings are held with parents where attendance is a concern.

St Mary’s Primary School bands its pupils attendance as below:

100% - outstanding

98.01% - 99.9% (with no unauthorised absence) excellent

96.01% - 98% (with no unauthorised absence) good

90.01% - 96% concerns or requires improvement

90% and under - persistent absentee

In line with government legislation that came in to force from 1st September 2013, we at St Mary’s Fields Primary School will NOT authorise any term time absence, unless in exceptional circumstances. If you feel your situation exceptional, then you will need to make an appointment to see the Mrs Nott, the Head Teacher.

If your child has unauthorised leave of absence you my either be issued with a penalty notice of £120 per parent per child (discounted to £60 if paid within 21 days), or, your case could be referred by the local authority directly to the magistrates court.

If an appointment needs to be within school hours we will need to see proof of the appointment card and we will expect the child to attend school before or after the appointment if possible. Please bring the appointment card with you when you collect or return your child to school and show the office staff.

The school has a link education welfare officer, Sadie Cadney, who also monitors pupil absence.

Each day your child is absent from school, is a day of their education they are missing out on.

LATENESS FACTS

Frequent lateness can add up to a considerable amount of learning lost and can obviously disadvantage your child.

If you are this many minutes late every day

You will lose this many days of learning a year

Autumn 1  2022 School Attendance for compulsory school age children

We previously used to publish class termly attendance percentage prior to the pandemic. COVID has obviously impacted school attendance everywhere.

The school's  attendance levels in January 2022 were at 94.2% which is in line with the Local Authority attendance levels which are also 94.2%. Currently (27/05/2022) our attendance is 94.5%

Whilst we are cautious as COVID is still impacting the attendance of our pupils, we are beginning again to publish our attendance figures. (see below)

Attendance for compulsory school age pupils

Autumn Term 2021

Autumn 2021 and Spring 2022 Terms combined

Spring Term 1 2022

Spring Term 2

Summer Term  1

Our current attendance percentage for 2021/22 is  94.3% (25/03/2022)