Attendance

Don't miss a moment of the greatest years of your life!

At Holy Family Catholic Primary School we know that regular attendance is directly linked to raising achievement and developing skills for life and work. Please support the school in this by ensuring that your child attends school everyday and arrives ready to learn and is on time at 8:55am.

Meet Our Attendance Team

Mrs K Parlett- Attendance Officer

Ms M Courtney- Safeguarding Manager

Ms C McFadden- Head Of School

Attendance Matters

Primary national pupil attendance is 97%. This means that a child needs to attend school for at least 177 out of 190 days to meet national expectations. 

Understanding types of absence

Every half day absence from school, by law, has to be classified as either authorised or unauthorised. This is why the information about the reason for absence is always asked for.

Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from school for a good reason such as illness, medical appointments and emergencies.

An absence is classified as unauthorised, if the reason was not acceptable. The Department of Education and Local Education Authorities provide information for schools about what is acceptable and what is not.

Examples of reasons that would not be accepted:

A birthday

A shopping trip

Day trips

Holidays - unless have been agreed as exceptional circumstances.

What should I do if my child is absent from school?

If your child is too ill to be in school then we ask that you notify the school by 9am that morning. Please advise us of the reason for absence and the expected date of return. Please note Senior Management may visit any child who is absent from school. If your child is absence for 5 days or longer then medical evidence will be requested. 

Medication in School

If your child is taking prescribed medication then a member of staff will administer the medication in line with our Medicines in School policy which states medicine will only be administered to a child in school if prescribed by a medical professional to given 4 x daily. Please hand prescribed medication in at the school office and complete the appropriate form. Parents do have permission to visit school during the day to administer non-prescribed medicines to their children.

Absences 

Please arrange all appointments outside of the school day where possible. If an appointment during the school day is unavoidable, please note that we expect your child to attend school before and after the appointment. 

A full days absence will not be authorised for a medical appointment.

We do not authorise any holidays during term time unless it is classed as an ‘Exceptional Circumstance’. An Education Penalty Notice may be issued by the Local Authority to each parent/carer for each child if this is not adhered to. Please note that the Doncaster Local Authority attendance guidance defines a parent/carer as:

• All natural parents, whether they are married or not
• Any person who, although they are not as natural parent, has parental responsibility (as defined in the Children Act 1989) for a child or young person
• Any person who, although not a natural parent, has care of a child or young person with whom the child lives and who looks after a child, irrespective of their relationship with the child
• Any person who has care of a child or young person i.e. lives with and looks after a child

If you do not notify us but we have evidence that your child has been on holiday an Education Penalty Notice (fine) may still be issued

Please see above Holiday Fines Letter Issued September 2024

Punctuality 

It is very important that all children arrive on time. If your child arrives late on a regular basis, a parent/carer will be expected to attend a meeting to look at how punctuality can be improved.

Promoting Attendance and Support

We believe that working together with parents is the best way to result in positive attendance outcomes for our children. We have lots of high profile rewards and systems in school to promote good attendance and punctuality with the children. 

All classes who achieve 95% attendance each week will get a special reward and a trophy is presented each week to the class with the highest attendance. Our weekly 100% attendance raffle also provide opportunities for good attendance to be recognised. Certificates and prizes are also given half termly in recognition of good attendance.

Attendance Winners 2024-2025

Thank you to all the local businesses who have donated the following prizes

Attendance Winners 2023-2024

Thank you to all the local businesses who have donated the following prizes

Attendance Monitoring 

As attendance and punctuality is so important to us, we cannot be complacent where there are instances of unacceptable , low pupil attendance , or if pupils are regularly late to school. 

We will adopt measures and involve external agencies if the level of attendance requires us to do so. Letter are sent to parents where attendance has dropped below 97%. Parent meetings and home visits may also be enforced, if required.  

Our Attendance Team is happy to work with both children and families to improve attendance and punctuality.

Come and talk to use if you are having any problems.