School Information

In this section of the website you will find the statutory information for the school. Our Governors, Headteacher and Senior Leadership Team (SLT) work together to ensure that the school fulfills all its legal requirements and that it stays up-to-date with the guidelines issued by the Department of Education. Please contact the school office if you have any questions regarding the information supplied in this section of the school website.

Attendance

We recognise that good attendance improves educational outcomes for all pupils by promoting and supporting their engagement with education. While the aim is for all children to achieve 100% attendance, we understand that illness can require children to miss a small number of days at school each year. Hertfordshire County Council works with schools to ensure that children attend school; they also work with parents and carers to ensure their child attends school regularly, on time, properly dressed and equipped and in a fit condition to learn. (See our Attendance Policy 2019).

At the end of the Autumn term 2019, there were 26 children at Markyate whose attendance was below 90%. For every day missed at school, a child misses nearly 6 hours of teaching and learning that cannot be made up. So, if a child misses 5 days of school, they have missed nearly 30 hours of teaching and learning.

At Markyate, we have the following procedures in place to monitor and respond to our school attendance:

• The school will follow up all instances of poor attendance and punctuality through meetings with parents and by formal letters detailing a child's absences.

• The school provides a safe learning environment and maintains records of attendance on a daily basis according to legislation and guidance.  
• The school provides attendance details on the child’s annual report. Details of poor attendance/ punctuality will be reported to subsequent schools.
• Only the Headteacher can authorise absence.

To help encourage good attendance from all our students, the school also uses the following strategies across all year groups:

• Children who achieve 100% attendance in a term are recognised at the End of Term Assembly and receive a special certificate.
• The class that achieves the highest attendance % each week receives extra playtime as a reward.
• The class that achieves the highest attendance % for the month receives a special learning session not normally provided in the timetable, e.g. a special art session, cookery session etc.