Attendance

Attendance is taken seriously at Worlebury St Paul’s Church school.  We understand that children can become ill from time to time and that they are then unable to attend school.  However, this is not the only reason why many of our children are absent from school.  Holidays in term time requests appear to be increasing and it is worth remembering that we can only grant absence in term time for exceptional circumstances, of which a holiday would not be deemed as an exceptional circumstance.  If a child exceeds 10 sessions (five days) of continuous unauthorised absence during the course of an academic year, a penalty notice may be issued by North Somerset Council.  A penalty notice equates to £60 per child per parent/carer with 21 days for it to be paid in full before the fine doubles per child and per parent/carer.  This is government policy over which all schools have no choice to comply with.