Monthly Attendance

Attendance Information

We recognise that regular attendance is important since, without it, all the efforts of teaching comes to nothing.  Children need to attend regularly if the they are to enjoy the educational opportunities provided within the school and make progress.   Absence can lead to educational disadvantage for a child and place them at risk of not achieving their full potential.

The school has adopted the Cardiff County Council "Callio Attendance System" which involves us working with Cardiff County Council to improve attendance.  This system aims to give parents/carers more information about how attendance can impact on pupil achievement and keeps you updated on a termly basis on your own child/children's attendance.

The school's target for each pupil is a minimum of 96.1% attendance at the end of the school year.  Below is the Callio colour banding framework which you my find helpful.  The rewards for good attendance are clear.  Pupils are more likely to enjoy school, achieve better results and increased life chances. 

Each term, all pupils will bring home a Callio Letter which shows you what category they fall into. 

GREEN - if your child falls into this category, they will be congratulated on their attendance and asked to "keep up the good work"

AMBER - if your child falls into this category, you will be reminded the importance of improving attendance as missing any more school may begin to have an effect on their learning.  If you would like any advice or support, you can contact the school to meet the Headteacher

RED - if your child falls into this category, you will be asked to make an appointment to meet with the headteacher to discuss ways forward for improving attendance/discuss issues that may be having an impact on attendance. 

ABSENT – PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES

All absences must be requested on an Absence Request Form, which can be obtained from the office.  Please do not write a letter requesting time out of school as this will only be returned to you with the correct form to complete.

ABSENT DUE TO ILLNESS

If your child is unwell and cannot come into school you will need to leave a message on the absent pupil extension by 8.30am.  If they continue to be unwell then you must make contact with the school on a daily basis.   If you do not contact the school and therefore your child’s absence cannot be correctly recorded they will be marked as absent (“O” code).  Any persistent absence due to medical issues must be followed up with an appointment to the doctors and medical evidence provided.

MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS

If your child needs to attend a medical appointment, then a medical card/letter should be provided.    If you are unable to provide the school with documentary evidence that your child has an appointment then again, they will be marked as absent (“O” code) - which is unauthorised.

LATENESS

The bell for school to begin is at 8.55am.  If your child is late in arriving at school they will be marked as late ("L" code"). If your child arrives after 9.15am then they will be given a “U” code, which is unauthorised, as registration at this time has now closed.  You must sign in and give a reason as to why your child is late for school, as the school needs a correct record of who is on the premises for health and safety/fire evacuation purposes. Please ensure you make every effort to arrive at school prior to 8.55am so your child is ready to start their day. We understand that sometimes you may have difficulty in getting your child/children to school and therefore we ask that if this is the case, you ring and leave a message, we will endeavour to help all we can.

In accordance with recent County and Cluster Guidelines, once your child reaches 10 “O” absence marks (for any of the reasons above and not necessary consecutive) then you will receive an Attendance/Lateness Warning Letter.  If lateness does not improve after receipt of this letter, a Fixed Penalty Notice may be issued.