Attendance

Attendance is Crucial

At St Mary's Catholic Primary School, we view excellent attendance and punctuality as vitally important for the learning and progress of the children. Your child’s time at school is very valuable - they only get the chance once! It is therefore very important that they miss as little school as possible.

Research shows that children who have good school attendance are more likely to do well in the future. Regular attendance also helps children to develop their confidence and make and keep lasting friendships.

Improving attendance is one of our key priorities and our target for this academic year is 97% which is in line with the national average figure for primary schools.

Thank you for your support in getting your child into school. on time everyday.

Attendance Trophy

Each week, Mrs Mellor reviews the attendance figures across the school. The class with the highest attendance is announced in our assembly, on Monday. This is celebrated by the class and rewarded with a class trophy. 

Drop-off and Collection Times

All school gates and doors will open at 8:50am for all year groups. The school registers will then be taken at 9:00am. Please ensure that your child arrives in the classroom by 9:00am otherwise they will be marked as late.

All classes will finish school at 3:15pm. The school gates will be opened at 3:05pm and parents can wait on the playground with your children until the doors are opened. 

Please make sure that you are using the correct gates to drop off and pick up:

• Nursery children - The Nursery Door
• Reception children - The Reception Door
• Year 1 and 2 - The KS1 Door
• Year 3 and 4 - The KS2 Silverdale Road Door
• Year 5 and 6 - The KS2 Stanier Street Door

Taking Holidays During Term Time

The law around withdrawing children from school gives no entitlement to parents to take their children on holiday during term time. Unfortunately, we do not have the authority in law to authorise absences for holidays or related activities, unless there are 'exceptional' circumstances. We would not be expected to class any term time holiday as 'exceptional'. This being the case, any requests for term time holidays will be declined and any susbsequent absences will be recorded as unauthorised. Please do not take holidays during term time if you want to avoid fines from the local authority.