Attendance to school

Regular attendance at school is very important.  Missing out on school means that pupils can lose vital time in their studies and will find that they will spend their time back in school catching up with their peers.  Whereas, pupils who attend on a regular basis find that they have higher literacy and numeracy levels while they achieve the external qualifications on offer.  Also, pupils who attend regular tend to be happier all round. 

The school has set a target for the pupils to have an attendance record of at least 96%.  That might seem a high figure but a 90% attendance is the same as a pupil missing 1 day of school per fortnight; therefore, we take attendance very seriously here at Maesgwyn.

If a pupil does miss school for a genuine reason, then please contact the school to let us know (e.g. medical appointment, illness, family bereavement etc); we can then authorise that absence.  However, if parents/carers do not provide adequate reasons for absence (a birthday or shopping for example is not an adequate reason) then that will be recorded as an unauthorised absence.  Contact details are as follows:

• Telephone: 01685 873933

• email: admin.maesgwynspecialschool@rctcbc.gov.uk

Should a pupil have many unauthorised absences then letters may be sent home or we’ll even arrange meetings at the school to discuss the low attendance rate.  Should attendance remain low then a referral to the AWS (Attendance and well-being service) may be necessary; this would mean an AWS worker attending home to support the family to improve the attendance record.  The last case scenario may be a fine; in fact if a pupil records 10 unauthorised absences (equal to 5 days) in a term then a FPN (financial penalty notice) may be issued by the school.

On the other hand we do take a positive role in rewarding excellent attendance.  We regularly organise raffles for pupils who:

-       Have an attendance above 96%; and 

-       Have improved their attendance by 3%.