Attendance - Success starts at school

The Maelor School is committed to providing all students with the best opportunities and we believe that excellent attendance and punctuality is vital for pupils to achieve their full educational potential.

What is good attendance?

We expect all our students to achieve a minimum of 98% attendance. An attendance percentage needs to be in the high nineties before it can be considered good.

An attendance record of 90% may seem good but it is equal to one day missed per fortnight. If this continues from Years 7 to 11, a total of six month’s education will be lost
An attendance record of 80% might seem acceptable but is equal to 1 day missed per week. If this continues from Years 7 to 11, a total of one year’s education will be lost

Why is good attendance important?

There is a strong link between good school attendance and achieving results which reflect your child’s full potential. Children who miss school may have gaps in learning which can impact progress in subject areas, whilst 100% attendance will give your child the best chance of success. Good school attendance also shows future employers that a young person is reliable, more likely to achieve well and play a positive role in their community.

Your responsibility as a parent

Parents and carers have a duty to ensure their child has a suitable education either by regular attendance at school or otherwise. Parental support is critical in ensuring that children achieve in education. Support and guidance are always available to assist parents in this outcome, please do not hesitate to contact our Pastoral Team if needed.

It is important you keep us fully informed of any reasons as to why your child is unable to attend school. If your child is absent from school, please provide us with such information. Reporting and monitoring of your child’s attendance can be done via the My Child at School App. MCAS is our preferred option for absence notification and will ensure you child’s attendance record is accurate and up-to-date.

We request parents support in order to keep absenteeism and lateness to an absolute minimum.

Parents/carers should provide reasons for absences and the school will decide whether or not they authorise in line with Government Guidelines.

Ready to Learn

We expect all students to be punctual to avoid missing vital time learning, engaging and building relationships in school. Students should be on time to all lessons, including registration, every day.

Registration begins at 8:55am, students are expected to arrive in good time to ensure attendance at registration. Please try to establish a routine at home that supports your child being onsite for 8.45am at the latest. We understand school buses may at times affect your child’s arrival to school on some occasions.

If late marks are incurred either to registration or to subject lessons, the school’s behaviour policy will be followed when issuing a sanction. In addition, an absence message will be sent via MCAS to the parent/carer. If you are struggling to get your child into school on time, please let us know and we will try to help.

Term time holidays

Any absence, including absence for holidays, interrupts the continuity of student’s learning. Parents/carers are strongly urged not to take students out of school for holidays during term time. Government Legislation now states that holidays during term time cannot be authorised except in exceptional circumstances. Permission for authorised holiday leave will only be granted at the discretion of the Head teacher.