ATTENDANCE

At St Thomas More Catholic Primary School, our children enjoy learning and want to be in school.

We also understand that the last two years have been particularly challenging, however it is more important than ever that we ensure all children attend school every day.

Our target for 2021-22 remains at 96%; this means that on average no pupil misses more than 4% of school days (less than seven days). Good attendance is a key to any child being able to fulfil their potential and make good progress in school. We have very effective systems in school to monitor attendance and parents of children whose attendance falls below what is acceptable will be subject be invited to meet with the school to discuss how to overcome any issues.

We will always listen,empathise and support parents and children with attendance however, we will not tolerate persistent absence at St Thomas More Catholic Primary School.

It is the expectation of the school that all children will attend school 100% of the time.

If you have any queries regarding attendance then please contact the Assistant Head Teacher, Mrs Çerikan, on 01242 513339 or email scerikan@st-thomasmore.gloucs.sch.uk who will offer help and support.  

WHAT IF MY CHILD IS UNWELL OR HAS A MEDICAL APPOINTMENT?

We understand that sometimes children are ill or have a need to attend appointments and so we would ask you to telephone school by 8.45am on the first day of their child’s absence. When you have a confirmed medical appointment please inform the school office so that it can be recorded in the register.

Wherever possible we would ask that you try to make appointments outside of school hours.

For absences of more than three days we may also ask that you provide evidence through the form of prescriptions, a note from the GP/Nurse, or labels from the child’s medication.

Attendance Matters

Regular attendance is an important part of giving your child the best possible start in life. Children who miss school frequently can fall behind with their work and do less well in tests. The table below shows how your child’s percentage attendance equates to the amount of school time missed.

Every minute counts

If your child arrives late to school every day, their learning begins to suffer. Below is a graph showing how being late to school over a school year adds up to lost learning time.

CELEBRATING GOOD ATTENDANCE  

Each week one of our classes wins the ‘Best Attendance’ award, welcomes OTIS the Duck into their classroom and receives extra playtime on Friday.

ON TIME and IN SCHOOL (OTIS) 

Were you ‘OTIS’ last week? Our aim again this year is to have 96% or more of all our children in school every day on time. We all need to help achieve this and make sure our class wins ‘OTIS the Duck’ as many times as possible!

This year we will also have a termly raffle for 100% attendees in each key stage, there will also be end of term treats in school and a big trip/event at the end of the school year.

Now that Covid restrictions are beginning to ease we will hopefully be able to offer our annual attendance treat for children achieving 100% attendance this academic year, in previous years children have visited Kaspa's Cheltenham for Ice Cream, The Warehouse Climbing & Caving Centre in Gloucester and Cadbury's World in Birmingham.

GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE ON ATTENDANCE AND ABSENCE

For more information on attendance please click on the local and national links:

http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/education-and-learning/school-attendance-and-exclusions-and-welfare/attendance-and-absence-from-school/

https://www.gov.uk/school-attendance-absence