The Education (Pupils’ Attendance Records) Regulations under relevant Education Acts are issued to all schools by the Welsh Government and set out the following procedures:

Each school is required to provide the LEA with details of pupil attendance, authorised and unauthorised absences. Therefore, parents must keep the school informed of absences by telephone and /or letter to avoid their child’s absence being recorded as unauthorised. Attendance Registers are taken twice daily and are closed by 9.05 a.m. and at 1.25 p.m., respectively which means that everyone arriving after these times will be considered absent for that session, unless the school is previously informed.

In the case of absence due to illness, the school must be informed on the first day of the absence in order for us to record an authorised absence.  This may be initially by telephone, with a letter on the child’s return to school. The school is legally obliged to set attendance targets and to publish the attendance records in school brochures and in the Governors Annual Report to Parents.

If your child cannot attend school through illness or because of medical appointments that cannot be made outside school hours, please inform the school promptly to avoid unnecessary concern.  As our attendance figures are recorded digitally, could you please notify the office, not the class teacher, so that our records are accurate.

We have a 24hr telephone answering service on which notification of your child’s absence can recorded. Please ensure you give a specific reason for your child’s absence.

Weekly communication with parents through twitter and text messaging ensures that parents are kept informed of the highest attendance rates that week. Rewards and incentives have been introduced as a motivational tool. A coloured letter system has been implemented to track half-termly attendance of pupils.  Attendance rates show strong progress since these initiatives have been implemented.

The Local Authority has adopted a zero-tolerance approach to Term Time holidays and as such, all requests will be unauthorised. Legislation allows fixed penalty notices to be issued in support of this.