At St John Henry Newman Catholic School, we know that showing up to school on time, every day, makes a huge difference to our pupils' learning and future success. Great attendance and being on time are big parts of that success recipe!

So, we're keen to make sure our attendance and punctuality rates are as high as they can be. Just like the Government and Local Authority suggest, we aim for all our pupils to be in school at least 95% of the time. If a pupil's attendance drops below 90%, that's called "persistent absenteeism", and we intend to step-in, offer support and get the attendance record back on track. Whilst it is always undesirable for us as a school to resort to Fixed Penalty Notices and potential prosecution, we take our role seriously in ensuring good attendance, and will resort to these measures if necessary. In the unlikely event that parents keep their child off school without suitable medical reason/illness, they can be prosecuted for knowingly obstructing their child’s education. In terms of holidays, the headteacher will only authorise a holiday in the most exceptional of circumstances which can be discussed further with the headteacher. Where parents choose to take their child out of school in unauthorised circumstances, we will not hesitate to ensure we pursue the matter with the Local Education Authority.

Attendance at school directly ties into academic achievement. The reason is simple: the more a student is present at school, the more they can actively engage with their learning, benefit from the structured environment and the guidance of their teachers, as well as participate in collaborative learning activities with peers.

The numbers back this up, too. Studies have found that students who attain a perfect attendance record, being present 100% of the time, have a significant advantage. They're 1.5 times more likely to score 5 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 1 or equivalent. That advantage jumps even higher, to 2.8 times, when we're talking about achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 4, including English and Mathematics. This comparison is drawn against students with attendance rates falling below 85%.

In short, being at school as much as possible gives students more opportunities to learn, practice, and understand new concepts, which ultimately helps them to perform better in their assessments. It's like a chain reaction, with each step linking directly to the next: consistent attendance leads to consistent learning, which then leads to higher achievement.

Good attendance means being in school 95% of the time. That means you're in school for 180-190 days a year.  This table that shows how many days a student would miss at different levels of attendance: