Attendance at Ffynnon Taf

As you will be aware, there has been increasing coverage in the media concerning school attendance (particularly the damaging effects of term time holidays) and much debate about what absences should and should not be permitted by schools. Subsequently we, along with all schools in RCT, have reviewed and revised our policy and procedures on attendance and an overview is presented below.

The Law

If your child is between the ages of 5 and 16 and they are registered at a school, the law says that it is parental responsibility to make sure they attend regularly and on time. If this is not the case, an Attendance and Wellbeing Officer may pay you a visit and you may face prosecution where you can be fined up to £2500 and serve a prison sentence.

 

Holidays

We would never encourage or recommend that you take your child out of school for holidays. However, we realise that sometimes there is no other way of taking a family holiday (and we do recognise how important this quality time is). Provided a holiday form is completed and submitted to the headteacher in good time, a period of up to 5 days can be authorised by the school. Any period of time over 5 days (up to a maximum of 10 days) will need to be presented to the governing body for authorisation. Any days taken above and beyond the maximum of ten will be registered as 'unauthorised' and will trigger warnings with the attendance support service. These days may not be permitted as a range of separate one day holidays, particularly when they fall on the same day on each occasion (e.g. Fridays or Mondays). 

While this may seem particularly rigid, it is worth noting that many schools and councils have taken the option of completely banning term time holidays to help raise attendance. We believe our approach is both fairer and more realistic but will require the full cooperation of parents. Holiday forms can be downloaded from the school website or obtained from Mrs James in the school office. 

Illness and Medical Appointments

If your child is absent from school due to illness, then you must ring or email the school for every day that your child is absent. If illness is persistent then it is the school's right to ask for further medical evidence such as medical note and appointment cards. If required, a referral can be made to the school nurse or county medical officer for support or further investigation.

 

Please avoid dental/doctor appointments during the school day where possible. If absolutely necessary, please bring your child to school for the remainder of the day (either before or after) so they can at least recieve their mark for that session.

 

Lateness

If your child is late (for whatever reason) they must be brought to Mrs James' office to recieve their mark and for the parent to complete our late book. There are two catergories of lateness:

1. Late before the close of register (up to 9.15am) arriving after the beginning of the session but before the close of the register are catergorised 'late'. In this case, pupils are marked as authorised and present.
2. Late after the close of the register - this is when the pupil arrives after the close of registration and has no good reason for being late. In this case the pupil is marked as unauthorised.

Rewards

We offer 100% certificates for pupils who have come to school for every session during one whole term. These children also recieve free skating passes for a family at Planet Ice in Cardiff Bay. We will be launching a new competition soon where these children will also automatically be entered into a prize draw with some very exciting prizes in the pipeline!