St Paul’s Catholic Juniors and the Education Welfare Service are working closely together to improve school attendance rates as regular attendance is essential if your child is to achieve the best results possible.
The Government expect pupils to have a minimum level of attendance of at least 97% (No more than 5 days of absence across the whole school year) and our school have accepted this figure as our own measure of regular attendance although we will strive towards a goal of 100% attendance for all children. Every opportunity will be used to convey to pupils and their parents or carers the importance of regular and punctual attendance.
You should also be aware the Government requires schools to measure attendance by ‘Persistent Absenteeism’ or PA. The PA threshold is set at 10%. That means that if a pupil misses 10% of possible school sessions or more by the end of each half term / term they will be classified as a Persistent Absentee. This is regardless of the reason for the absences i.e. whether AUTHORISED or UNAUTHORISED by the school.
Each term the school will examine its attendance figures and set attendance/absence targets. These will reflect both national and Liverpool City Council attendance targets. The school will review its systems for improving attendance at regular intervals to ensure that it is achieving its set goals.
Since 1st September 2013, the law gives no entitlement to parents to take their child on holiday during term time. Our school attendance policy is detailed and follows government guidelines. Please refer to our policy (see link below) for further details. Head teachers would not be expected to class any term time holiday as exceptional.