All are welcome here to walk with Jesus as we love, learn and flourish.

Holiday Dates

Please click on the links to download our holiday dates and visit our home page for our opening hours.

Attendance and Term-Time Holidays

The minimum attendance level which is expected for all primary aged children nationally is 95%. Further to this, individual schools are required to set an annual target for attendance. St Mary’s target for this year is 97%. In order for us to meet this target we need to ask that all pupils aim for this level of attendance. A good attendance record is vital because even short periods of absence can mean that a child’s ability to keep up with school work may be significantly reduced. Friendship groups can also be affected by time away from school and this can be very upsetting for children.

In order to assess our progress in meeting this challenging target we review the attendance of individual pupils at least once every half term and contact parents of children who are not meeting the target to find out if they need any help or support.

Family holidays should not be taken during term time. The Head is not able to authorise these and your child will be marked as taking unauthorised leave.

The Head is able to authorise leave for exceptional circumstances such as funerals and a form needs to be completed to request this authorisation. The form is available from the office or by clicking here and it should be completed and returned to the office.

The happiness and educational progress of all the children at St Mary’s are our priorities and we believe that good attendance is a major way in which these priorities can be achieved. It is for this reason that we ask for your support in this matter. If you would like any further advice in relation to attendance please do not hesitate to contact school.

Following Boris Johnson’s 8pm announcement we now know that as of midnight tonight the country has entered a new period of Lockdown, a Lockdown that includes the closure of school. 

School will be open for the children of Key Workers and for pupils who are deemed vulnerable. All pupils will be provided with work in order for them to keep learning. 

Tonight’s announcement was very short notice for you as parents and also for us as a Staff. Tomorrow, by 11am there will be three tasks on the school website for each Class to complete as their Tuesday learning. However, School will be closed to ALL pupils tomorrow. 

 

Staff, however, will be in school preparing for the rest of the Lockdown. Through tomorrow we will prepare school to make it safe for Key worker pupils and vulnerable children to return. 

We will send out a form for you to apply for a place in the Keyworker Bubbles and we will let you know more about how children will be learning remotely. We will do our very best to re-open to Key Worker children and vulnerable pupils by Wednesday. 

I am aware of how difficult this is for you all, School closing creates a multitude of problems for everyone but data surrounding this awful disease dictates that this is a necessary step. As ever, the safety and health of everyone must be a priority. 

Thank you for your continued support and we will be in frequent contact over the next few days. 

Many thanks

Claire Halstead