School attendance is aimed to be 96% and above for every child. Students with good attendance are happy, thrive and succeed. Please ensure your child aims for excellent attendance and any medical/dental appointments etc are scheduled for after school and holiday times wherever possible so as not to disadvantage their learning. Reporting your child absent must be prior to registration at 08.40am. Please do notify the school using the Absence telephone line 01279 654901 or by contacting the following email address: attendance@stmarys.net 

When reporting your child absent please state: Your name/Your child's name and year group/ the reason for absence/contact number

To access Attendance Policy and Sixth Form Attendance Policy and flow chart please click on this link: Policies

Absence: illness

We advise that if students have had diarrhoea and/or vomiting that they do not attend school for 48 hours.

Absence: Medical Appointments (48 hours notice period)

Please book any medical appointments around the school day when possible. Parents must notify the school in advance of any pre-arranged absence or treatment.  This should be a minimum of 48 hours of the appointment made and a copy of the appointment record should also be shared with your child's Year Head (as well as Attendance@stmarys.net) when requesting absence so that this can be authorised. 

Leave of Absence

The Department for Education have emphasised important guidance for schools regarding the taking of any leave of absence during term time. Please be reminded of the following: 

• Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. THIS INCLUDES HOLIDAYS.

• Exceptions are:

• Service personnel and other employees who are prevented from taking holidays during term-time and evidence is provided to this effect.
• When a family needs to spend time together to support each other during or after a crisis.
• Parents who are subject to a strict and non-negotiable holiday rota and evidence is provided to this effect.
• Exceptional circumstances to be agreed at the Headteacher’s discretion.

• Students meeting the exceptional circumstances above need to complete a Leave of Absence Form by selecting the appropriate link in the sidebar on the right-hand side of this page.
• Forms emailed into school will not be processed and you will be redirected to complete the online form.
• Please ensure that where possible, you attach evidence to support the exceptional circumstances.
• Forms will be reviewed weekly on a Friday morning. You are therefore encouraged to submit the form at least 3 weeks before your child will be absent from school. All Leave of Absence requests must be made well in advance of the dates of the requirement and before any arrangements are made.
• Each parent/carer can be fined (per student) by the Local Authority for taking their child out of school during term time without the consent of the Headteacher 
• In some circumstances students may be removed from the roll and therefore lose their school place.

We sincerely hope that all parents will support St Mary’s on this matter and recognise the benefits that increased attendance will have on attainment. Further information can be found on the St Marys website: www.stmarys.net under ‘About Us’ Policies and References, School Attendance.