At St Michael’s Catholic Primary School we believe that good attendance nurtures our pupils academically, socially and emotionally. In order for children to maximise their learning opportunities, it is vital that your child attends school every day. The school’s attendance target for this academic year is 97%, and we implement a `traffic light system’ to signpost attendance levels to parents/carers and children.

Pupils' attendance is monitored on a daily basis and we encourage and celebrate excellent attendance. We also work with School Health and Education Welfare to support your child if their attendance becomes a cause of concern. Over the last 3 years, our attendance has been above the national average and this is thanks to the wonderful support of our parents and carers and the amazing attitude of our pupils. See Twitter for a regular update of our whole school attendance.

For St Michael's Attendance Policy, please see document at the foot of this page.

Changes to Department of Education Guidance for Parents

The Department of Education introduced changes to the 'Working together to improve school attendance' document, which became statutory in August 2024. The guidance outlines the responsibilities and expectations of schools (including governing bodies) and local authorities in relation to school attendance as well as reminding parents of their responsibilities.

The expectations of parents are below: 

• That you will ensure that your child attends school regularly (as defined by the Supreme Court in 2017 as every day the school is open except when a statutory reason applies) and that you notify the school as soon as possible when your child has to be unexpectedly absent ·
• That you only request leave of absence in exceptional circumstances and that you do so in advance (it is the Headteacher’s decision on what is deemed ‘exceptional’ as the priority is for your child to attend school every day but generally, the DfE does not consider a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation to be an exceptional circumstance.
• Where possible you book medical appointments around the school day, but when this cannot be avoided and your child has an appointment at school time, you notify the school in advance (and if your child attends the appointment in uniform, they can return to school afterwards).
• That you work with your child’s school and the Local Authority to help with the understanding of any barriers to your child attending school regularly. (Please contact your school's attendance team in the first instance, who will be happy to help and offer any advice or support with barriers you may be facing.)
• That you engage with the support offered, such as through our Family Hubs or attending meetings to prevent the need for more formal support

In addition to outlining the expectations on parents, schools and local authorities, the Department for Education has also made changes to penalty notices: the cost of each penalty notice will increase for any offences committed after 19th August to £160 (£80 if paid within 21 days) for the first offence.

One of the changes introduced from 19th August is that where a parent takes the child out of school and commits a second offence within a rolling three-year period, the penalty notice amount will automatically be set at £160 (with no reduction for early payment). For any third offence in the rolling three-year period there will be no penalty notice, but there will be a prosecution.

Penalty notices are issued per parent, per child.

These changes do not take away the possibility of the Local Authority going straight to prosecution for a second offence where a penalty notice has been issued previously and not paid, resulting in a prosecution. Halton Local Authority will continue to work closely with school leaders, families and support services across the borough to ensure that every child has the best opportunity to achieve their potential.

For the full letter, please see the bottom of this page.

 Class Attendance Winners 

Every month we reward the class who have achieved the best attendance in school.

The winners for each month are listed below - congratulations.

September	Reception Class - Miss Smith
October	Year 1 - Mrs Boardman
November	Class 4P - Mrs Pendleton
December	Class 4P - Mrs Pendleton
January	Year 2 - Mr Borelan
February	Year 2 -Mr Borelan
March
April
May
June
July

 Attendance Data 2024-2025

 

Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb
96.1 %	94.9%	93.8%	95.3%	95.2%	93.8%
March	April	May	June	July

 

Attendance Data 2023-2024

 

Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb
95.4%	94.5%	95.9%	94.2%	94.5%	93.7%
March	April	May	June	July
94.1%	92.9%	93.8%	94.7%	91.5%

 

Attendance Data 2022-2023

 

September	October	November	December	January	February
95.7%	94.6%	93.8%	87.7%	94.4	94.3
March	April	May	June	July
95.6%	93.4%	95.6%	93.9%	92.8%

Average Attendance for 2022-2023 94%

Punctuality

It is important that your child arrives in school on time. Just being a few minutes late every day can  potentially impact on your child's education as well as causing your child unnecessary stress.

We are here to help and give guidance - if you would like to chat to Helen Leitch our attendance officer, please call at the school office.

The table below gives you an indication of the time lost in school by lateness.

Be on Time at 10 TO 9

Minutes Late Each Day	Number of School Days / Weeks Missed in a Year
If your child is  late by the number of minutes below each and every day	This is how much learning time your child  will have missed by the end of the year.
5 Minutes	3 School Days
10 Minutes	6.5  School Days
15 Minutes	10 School Days
20 Minutes	13 School Days
30 Minutes	19 School Days

School Day

School opens 840-8.50am

School Closes 3.05-3.15pm (dependant on year group)

Lunch times vary depending on Year group.

All lunch times are 45 minutes long