Attendance & Absence Request

The regular attendance of pupils at school is a high priority for St. Mary's C.E. Middle School. We work with other schools in the area and follow local and national attendance procedures and guidelines.

Government guidance - Please use this link to view government guidance: https://www.gov.uk/school-attendance-absence

Dorset Council guidance - Please use this link to view Dorset guidance: School attendance and absence

Wessex Multi Academy Trust - Attendance Policy: Attendance Policy

Under the Education Act of 1993, the school is obliged to compile and publish accurate rates of absenteeism each year. Guidance to school has been strengthened and the Department of Education now states that “Headteachers may not grant leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances”. It is therefore highly unlikely that requests for holiday absence will be granted during term time and will therefore be recorded as unauthorised absence. Please telephone the school if you feel that exceptional circumstances would apply to your request.

Sept 2023 to March 2024

	Whole School	Year 5	Year 6	Year 7	Year 8
Whole Cohort	93.8%	95.1%	94.6%	92.6%	93.1%
Boys	93.4%	95.4%	94.3%	91.1%	92.6%
Girls	94.1%	94.8%	94.9%	93.6%	93.6%

Attendance

	2022/23	2021/22	2020/21	2019/20	2019/18	2017/18
Whole Cohort School	93.5%	91.8%	95.3%	94.0%	95.6%	95.2%

Persistent School Attendance

Year	Whole School	Number if pupils	PP	SEN
2017/18	7.68%	39	56.51%	33.33%
2018/19	14.41%	68	41.18%	35.29%
2019/20	17.01%	83	41.18%	45.78%
2020/21	12.35%	62	47.70%	41.91%
2021/22	25.84%	130	37.69%	43.85%
2022/23	18.29%	90	42.22%	45.56%
2023/24 Up to 13/03	14.41%	68	39.71%	44.12%

Application for absence

Sickness

The protocol for any child with a D&V bug - it is recommended that the child remains at home for 48 hours until after their last episode