Through our Christian Faith, we acknowledge our responsibility to all, to enrich lives and show love and respect within our school. We want our children to be the best they can be: ‘Live life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10). In order to develop as independent, confident and successful learners with high aspirations we expect our children to attend school every day. We ask parents to support our attendance policy and ensure their children attend school on time (unless they are sick).

We aim for pupils to achieve an attendance figure of above 97%. There is strong evidence to show that children who have excellent attendance are more successful in school and achieve a significantly higher standard. The impact of reduced attendance is shown in the table below.

Attendance below 90% is classed as persistent absenteeism. Children with attendance less than 90% are at risk of referred to the Education Support Service.

As a school, we realise that there are occasions when children are, e.g. ill or have suffered a bereavement. However, there are occasions when young people are absent with minor complaints when they perhaps could be in school, learning. It is on these occasions when we ask for your support in getting your child into school to ensure they have the greatest chance of achieving their full potential.

Developing good attendance routines is vital so your child does not miss out on important learning.

You can help by:

• talking positively about school so your child is happy to go each day
• setting start and finish times for breakfast
• setting times and a routine for going to, and getting out of, bed and getting enough sleep each night
• encouraging your child to have their school uniform and school bag ready the night before

Not all illnesses require your child to take time off school. Please contact school to discuss the symptoms your child is displaying. We are able to help support your child’s illness and medical needs in school and have trained members of staff who can administer medication. If your child requires medication, medical care or a risk assessment following an ongoing illness or injury, please contact the main office to complete the appropriate forms. St Margaret's likes to give all our pupils every opportunity to maximise their primary school experience and we will work with our families to help support and overcome any barriers. 

Please only keep your child home if necessary.

All children should aim for 100% attendance and a minimum of 97% attendance is expected. If attendance falls below this, it can have a significant impact on the number of lessons missed, which then impacts progress and achievement.

We make it very easy for you to report your child's absence, by offering a variety of contact options. If your child is unable to attend school due to illness please phone or email the school office before 9.00am to let us know. You can also report an absence via the 'report an absence' option on the telephone, via the school website or the School Life app. 

If we have not heard from you we will start to phone your contact list. If we can not contact you we will need to do a home visit to ensure that you and your child are safe.

Leave of absence requests in term time are not authorised unless there are exceptional circumstances. 

In every case, a leave of absence form must be completed. You can request a leave of absence form from the school office. This should be returned to the school office before the intended dates of absence.

Whole school attendance for week ending Friday 8th September2023

95.7%