Holidays and Absence

Holiday  absence.

The Governors and staff at Our Lady's are united in their belief that regular school attendance is the key to enabling children to maximise the educational opportunities available to them. Helping them to become emotionally resilient, confident and competent adults who are able to realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to their community.

This policy aims to show our commitment to meeting our obligations with regards to school attendance, including those laid out in the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) statutory guidance on working together to improve school attendance (applies from 19 August 2024), through our whole-school culture and ethos that values good attendance, including:

  • Setting high expectations for the attendance and punctuality of all pupils
  • Promoting good attendance and the benefits of good attendance
  • Reducing absence, including persistent and severe absence
  • Ensuring every pupil has access to the full-time education to which they are entitled
  • Acting early to address patterns of absence
  • Building strong relationships with families to make sure pupils have the support in place to attend school
  • Ensure the school is welcoming and every child feels a sense of belonging and connectedness.   
  • Work closely with the local authority Education Welfare Service.