Regular school attendance is important for children's social and academic progress. At St. Mary's we expect children to attend school every day unless they are prevented to do so by illness. Attending school on time each day is also important to prevent children becoming upset when walking into their classroom late and so that do not miss any learning.

We ask for parental support with the following:

• Contact the school on the first day of absence as soon as possible (by email or leaving a message on the school phone).

• Making appointments, such as doctors and dentist, outside of school hours or as early or late in the school day as possible.

• Booking family holidays for school holiday times and not in term time or tag them onto the start or end of a school holiday period.

If you need to take your child out of school for any reason and know in advance, we ask that you complete a leave of absence form which can be requested from the school office. We ask that this is completed and return to school at least 2 weeks before the absence so that a meeting can be arranged with the headteacher to discuss your child's attendance record.

More information on school attendance can be found on the Cardiff Council website by clicking the link below: