Attendance

Be Present. Be Successful

Good attendance and punctuality remain a top priority for us at St Martins Primary School. We share with parents and carers views in wanting the best for your child.

Your efforts, working in partnership with St Martins Primary School will ensure that your child will have the best chance to achieve their academic potential and have a real opportunity in further education and the world of work. It will also enable your child to:

Access the lessons needed to achieve their expected grades
Maintain friendships and develop new ones
Have access to social events offered by the school
Explore potential life skills
Develop world habits such as good punctuality which are essential to thrive in the world beyond school

We strive to ensure your child has the greatest opportunities to be the best they can be, to feel safe and supported in school, and to develop a sense of belonging both with their peers and as a wider part of our school community.

To support that, regular attendance will be key.

Expectations

Children should arrive at school in good time and the gates will be opened at 8.20am to ensure children are ready for to enter school at 830am.

As we are sure you are aware, parents/carers are legally responsible for their child’s attendance at school and must ensure regular attendance.

If your child is absent for any reason, please inform the school in person: you can call or text our attendance phone on 07470089894. Please leave your child's full name, school, class and reason for absence.

Alternatively, you can email: admin@st-martins.hereford.sch.uk

This also applies to children who need to leave during the day for any medical checks or treatment. If your child has a medical appointment, we ask that you please provide a medical note for this.

Due to national legislation, we are unable to grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances (which doesn’t include a holiday). Therefore, any unauthorised absence (5 days or more within a term) may result in a referral to Herefordshire Council who will consider a penalty notice of £80 per child per parent or other legal intervention.

This is the link to Herefordshire Council's code of conduct on policy:

Penalty Notice - Local Code of Conduct 2024 (herefordshire.gov.uk)

Understanding Attendance Percentages

	Impact over 1 school year	Impact over 5 school years
100% Attendance	0 days missed	0 days missed
95% Attendance	9 days of absence 1 Week and 4 Days of learning lost	¼ year learning lost
90% Attendance	19 Days of Absence 3 Weeks and 4 Days of learning lost	½ year learning lost
85% Attendance	28 Days of Absence 5 Weeks and 3 Days of learning lost	¾ year learning lost
80% Attendance	38 Days of Absence 7 Weeks and 3 Days of learning lost	1 year learning lost
75% Attendance	47 Days of Absence 9 weeks and 1 day of learning lost	1 ¼ years learning lost

Every Minute Makes a Difference

When your child is late for school, their learning begins to suffer.

How Parents and Carers Can Support Good School Attendance

As parents/carers you can best support your child to secure regular attendance and punctuality by:

Ensuring a good bedtime routine to enable your child to get enough sleep.
Establishing a good routine each evening and each morning so your child is prepared for the school day ahead.
Making sure your child attends school every day it is open, unless there is an exceptional reason preventing this.
Ensuring your child arrives at school on time every day by 8.40 am.
Arranging dental and medical appointments outside school hours wherever possible, where this is not possible ensure your child attends before and returns promptly afterwards.
Informing the school if your child is ill and too unwell to attend, please call: 07470089894
Taking absence seriously – if your child is not wanting to attend, or has not attended as you expected why is this? Are they putting themselves at risk – Who are they with? What are they doing? Do you know who they are talking to online?
Talking positively to your child about school and taking an interest in their school day.
Attending parents evenings and school events.
Praising and rewarding your child’s efforts and achievements at school.
Supporting school staff by working in partnership to best manage and support your child with any difficult or challenging behaviour or circumstances.
Discussing any problems or difficulties with the school as soon as they arise – staff are here to help.

Working Together to Understand Absence

If your child is sometimes reluctant to come to school, whether due to feeling unwell or for other reasons, it can sometimes indicate that something is troubling them.

What may seem like a minor issue to an adult, can feel like a very big worry to a child. If you notice changes in your child’s behaviour, such as regularly complaining of illness or finding reasons to stay at home, it may be worth considering whether they are feeling anxious or upset about something. In these situations, please reach out to the school so we can work together to offer support.

Please contact Mr Morgan, Mrs Matthews or our student support team if you would like any further support with your child’s punctuality and/or attendance.