Attendance Policy

Scoil Muire agus Treasa will promote good attendance at school by:

• Continuing to maintain a nurturing and positive atmosphere in the school;
• Continuing to make learning relevant to the individual needs of each child;
• Providing support for children who are experiencing failure at learning;
• Giving positive reinforcement for good attendance;
• Early identification of pupils who are at risk of developing school attendance problems;
• Early intervention where a problem with attendance arises;.
• Establishing closer contacts between the school and families with attendance problems;
• Insisting that all absences are accounted for by a letter or note from a parent. In the case of absence due to illness the nature of the illness must be indicated.

Procedure where there is a problem with attendance

The school will seek to resolve problems of attendance by working with the family involved in the first instance.

Parents must inform the school in writing if their child is absent giving the reason for the absence, the teacher notes the reason for the absence.

The school is obliged to inform the National Educational Welfare Board if a child is absent for 20 days or more in a school year or where the absence gives rise to concern.

The school will inform parents when their child has missed a total of 15 days and remind them of the schools obligation to report absences of 20 days or more to the NEWB.

Transferring to another school

Attendance, behaviour and academic records of children who transfer to another primary school will be passed to the principal of the school by post as soon as we receive written notification of transfer.

Attendance, behaviour and academic records of children who transfer into Scoil Muire agus Treasa will be sought directly from the previous school.

Attendance, behaviour and academic records of pupils transferring to Secondary School will be sent to the school once enrolment has been confirmed.

Calendar

The calendar for the coming year is published annually in June of the previous year. It is hoped that this approach will enable parents/guardians to plan family events around school closures, thus minimising the chances of non-attendance related to family holidays during the school term.

Late arrivals

Roll-call will be completed at 10am every day as per guidelines set out by the Department of Education in circular 0028/13.

‘A pupil will be marked whether present or absent at the time of roll call and there will be no provision for adjusting the Roll Book where a pupil subsequently does not complete the full school day or arrives after the roll call.’

Responsibility for Review:

• All Members of Staff
• Parents/Guardians
• Board of Management
• Ratification of Policy by Board of Management

Signed: ___________________________________

                     Chairman of the Board of Management

Date: ____________________________________

Next Review Date: May 2018