School Attendance

Here at St Bede’s Catholic Primary School, we work in partnership with parents to ensure children attend school regularly and are punctual to school. We firmly believe that when children are in school everyday and on time, then this is reflected in good progress being made in the classroom and will give children the best opportunities to succeed and achieve in our school.

Our school day is from 8:50am until 3:15pm.

Mrs Welsh and Mrs Griffiths manage the attendance data for our school and will contact you if there is a concern around your child’s attendance. Please ensure that if your child is absent from school then you contact Mrs Griffiths to give an explanation otherwise it could result in the absence being recorded as unauthorised.

The change in Government legislation means that family holidays are no longer authorised absences. Family holiday taken in term time will result in our Local Authority issuing a penalty notice. This may also be the case where there are a high number of unauthorised absences within an academic year. Please book an appointment to speak to Mrs Welsh direct if you feel that you need to discuss an absence or if you are struggling to ensure that your child is regularly attending school.

A Fixed Penalty Notice results in –

• A cost of £60 per parent/carer for each child. This will require payment being made to the Local Authority within 21 days.
• The cost increases to £120 per parent/carer for each child if payment is not received within 28 days.
• If the penalty is not paid in full by the end of the 28 day period, the Local Authority will instigate Court Proceedings and the outcome of a prosecution could be up to £1,000 per parent/carer.

Further advice and guidance on this matter can be located through the Department of Education website entitled “Advice on school attendance”

Here at St Bede’s Catholic Primary School, we aim to develop an ethos which demonstrates to the children how much we value them coming to school regularly and on time. We teach the children that regular and punctual attendance is an essential ingredient for their learning to be effective. The Reception/KS1 and KS2 class with the highest weekly attendance are awarded an attendance certificate and a ‘treat’. At the end of the academic year the highest overall attending class earns a special treat – last year this was a Cinema visit! Mrs Devine announces the winners of the attendance awards during the Headteacher’s assembly on a Monday morning.

Punctuality

Punctuality is very important. Please make sure that your child is on the playground ready for the bell to ring at 8.50am, our school doors open everyday at 8.40am. All pupils participate in activities as soon as they are registered. Missing these sessions could cause your child to fall behind their friends and make them more reluctant to come to school, so please help us by being on the playground by 8.40am each day.

Anyone arriving at school after this should enter via the main entrance. If your child arrives after 9am your child will have a late mark.

Did you know that missing 20 minutes of school every week adds up to over 11 hours or nearly 3 whole days worth of reading lessons over the year. Can your child afford to miss this much school, when their friends are not?