Attendance
As a school it is our duty to monitor attendance and help and support children and families so that they have good attendance.
So, what is ‘good’ attendance?
At St Swithun’s, we define a ‘good’ attendance as arriving ‘on time’ and an average attendance rate of at least 95%. Of course, some children will have unavoidably longer absences for medical reasons, so it is important that all children aim for 100% or as close to this as possible.
If your child’s attendance falls below 95%, we will send home a copy of their attendance sheet so that you are aware.
Pupil’s attendance is monitored regularly and we will continue this process throughout the year. If your child’s absence rate is less than 90%, they are classed as being ‘persistently absent’ and, together with you, we will monitor, help and support these absences more closely.
St Swithun's Attendance Policy
Holidays in Term Time
Parents should not be taking their children out of school on holiday during term-time. Applications may, on occasion, be approved, if the circumstances are exceptional. There needs to be a sound reason why the leave could not be taken during the 13 weeks of school holidays. Application for leave must be made in advance of any bookings being made.
If you do decide to apply to take your child out of school, please consider that:
If your child has a holiday of two weeks during term time and has five days of sickness in one school year, they will miss 69 hours of education.
As parents, please consider whether your child can keep up if they miss this much time.
We know from studies of child development that missing 10% of their school time has an adverse effect on children’s development and therefore their outcomes. Please seriously consider the need to apply to take your child out of school during term time.
If your circumstances are exceptional and you need to request an absence for your child during term time, please either request an absence application form from the office or download one from the ‘forms’ section and email it to: office.3258@st-swithuns.oxon.sch.uk
If your child is away from school without the use of this process or if the absence is not agreed, the absence is recorded as unauthorised.