At Abernant Primary School, we place great emphasis on the importance of attending school every day and we are supported by the Local Authority in ensuring that we provide the best possible opportunities for our pupils. We do all we can to encourage the children to attend, having a range of school based initiatives in place, which help us to promote and celebrate achievements. Mrs R. Jones (AWO) has provided support for the school, e.g. leading a special assembly at the start of the school year, to introduce the reward system to the children, supporting school with welfare calls to homes during the pandemic and challenging school on attendance rates. We believe that the most important factor in promoting good attendance is development of positive attitudes towards school. To this end, we strive to make our school a happy and rewarding experience for all children. The children have regular visits from ‘Super Attender’ Mascot, where they learn how to become a ‘Super Attender’. We will reward those children whose attendance is very good through termly ‘Awards’ assemblies and encourage whole classes to aim high, be punctual and attend regularly, through monthly ‘best class’ attendance incentives. We will also make the best provision we can for those children who, for whatever reason, are prevented from coming to school.

In relation to attendance during this first two terms of 2020 - 21, the local authority guidance is:

There will be no penalty notices issued currently for poor attendance and Welsh Government will decide when this will change. As soon as this is reinstated we will give you prior warning. Presently the AWO service will be carrying out well being visits to any child whose attendance is low and a parent has failed to report an explanation regarding the absence from school. The important message is that if your child is absent from school ensure school is contacted to inform them of the reason why.