ATTENDANCE

St. Mark’s is committed to providing a full and efficient educational experience to all children. Children attending every day, and on time is key to steady progress and enjoyment of learning, and for this reason the school is dedicated to ensuring maximum attendance for all children.

We encourage all pupils to work towards 100% attendance.

A whole calendar year has 365 days – a school year has only 190 days. This leaves 175 days to spend on family time, visits, holidays and other appointments.

• Attendance Matters – Information Sheet

We encourage regular attendance by:

• Providing a caring and welcoming learning environment
• Learning that is fun so that children will not want to miss it.
• Responding promptly to a child’s or parent’s concerns about the school or other children.
• Marking registers accurately and punctually during morning and afternoon registration.
• Publishing and displaying attendance statistics.
• Celebrating good and improved attendance.
• Monitoring children, informing parents/carers in writing of irregular attendance, arranging meetings with them if necessary.

We expect that you will:

• ALWAYS encourage regular school attendance and be aware of your legal responsibilities.
• ALWAYS ensure that your child arrives at the school punctually and fully prepared for the school day.
• Ensure that you contact the school whenever your child is unwell and unable to attend the school.
• Contact the school by 9.15am on the first day of your child’s absence and telephone every day thereafter unless your child has a doctor’s certificate.
• Contact us promptly whenever any problem occurs that may keep your child away from the school.