Informing school about people who cannot collect your child.

'Dear Parent(s)/ Guardian(s),

Based on updated Child Protection Guidance, we need to be informed if there is someone, especially one of your child’s parents, who is not allowed to collect your child due to a Court Order. If this is the case, please contact Mrs Donnelly (our Designated Child Protection lead)Mrs Toner immediately.
Thank you for your very necessary co-operation in this sensitive matter.

Attendance Information

Children are required by law to attend school.

An attendance of 85% or below throughout the year is a loss of 6 weeks education for a child which, in reality, means missing out on 6 or 7 topics across the Curriculum.

Please be aware that children’s attendance is not monitored by the school but by Education Authority’s Welfare Officer (EWO) on a monthly basis.

The parents / carers of children with 90% or less attendance usually receive a letter of concern from Mr Byrne.

Should attendance continue to be an issue, the EWO will become responsible for monitoring the future attendance of the pupil every month.

The EWO also monitors pupils who are persistent late comers or display a pattern of leaving school before class is over.

Parents should explain all absences to the Class Teacher verbally/by note or by St Clare’s Abbey Primary School Pro-forma Absence letter, which will be provided upon return to school.

Parents are expected to inform school about planned holidays during the school terms, however, please be aware that ALL HOLIDAYS taken during term time are considered UNAUTHORISED by the Attendance Officer.

School Attendance Matters

Important: Reporting Student Absences

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We would like to remind you of the required procedure for reporting school absences.
If your child is unable to attend school, you must contact the School Office by 9:00 AM on the first day of absence. When getting in touch, please provide a specific reason for the child's missing attendance (e.g., illness, medical appointment, or family emergency).

This allows us to account for every child and ensure they are safe, and knowing the reason for an absence helps us provide any necessary academic or wellbeing support for your child upon their return.

If the Office is not notified of a reason, the absence will automatically be recorded as unauthorised.

We hold termly meetings with the Education Welfare Officer to review attendance data. High levels of unauthorised absences can negatively impact your child's records and may trigger formal intervention from the Education Welfare Office.

Additional Notice: Punctuality and Lateness

Lessons begin promptly at 9:00 AM each morning. Children arriving after this time will be marked as late in the attendance register. Persistent lateness not only disrupts learning but is also monitored as part of your child's overall attendance record.
As with absences, patterns of lateness are shared with the Education Welfare Officer, and frequent late arrivals may contribute to concerns raised during attendance reviews.

Please note: Messages passed through siblings or teachers may not always reach the attendance system in time. Please ensure you contact the Main Office directly via phone or our school communication app.

Thank you for your cooperation in helping with the safety and organisation of our school community.

It is also important that your child remains in school for the full day. Children should not be collected early any day unless there is a valid reason. Early collection of children is also noted on the Attendance Record as valuable class time is missed.

Best regards,

Mr Byrne
Parental Engagement Officer

Children with additional educational needs

Please Help Us keep These Children Safe

Vomiting or Diarrhoea

Child Protection

The health and safety wellbeing of our pupils is of paramount importance. As a School, we have a legal duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and to have a Child Protection Policy which meets the requirements of the Department of Education.

It is important that all parents read this Policy.

Our Child Protection Policy is available on the School Website (About Us, Policies) where it can be read and downloaded if necessary.

If you have difficulty accessing the policy, please make contact with the school office and I will make a hard copy available to you.

ONLINE SAFETY

Parents and pupils please remember that photographs taken in the school environment of children are not to be put on any social media sites.

We ask all parents and family members to respect this school rule. If this rule is not respected, the matter will be referred to our Board of Governors.

St Clare's Abbey is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites.

We recommend adult supervision for all links to external sites and at all time for children when using the internet.

Please visit our "Online Safety" page under ‘About Us’.

Safety in our School Grounds

We remind parents of the need to drive carefully into the school grounds and to be aware of the school crossings. The school operate a ‘drop-off’ zone for pupils.

Parking is not allowed in school grounds and particularly not in the drop off zone or bus parking areas.

If you wish to accompany your child to the door please park carefully outside of school grounds. A crossing patrol is available on Courtenay Hill.

Mobile Phones

Policy on children's use of mobile phones in school:

We discourage pupils from taking phones to school, however, we appreciate that some parents need their child to take a phone to school to confirm home time arrangements etc. If this is the case, the following arrangements apply:

1. A letter must be sent to Mrs Monaghan explaining the circumstances.

2. The phone must be kept in the child's bag, switched off until home time. Important: pupils take phones to school at their own risk.

3. Pupils must not take photos with their phone, prior to arriving home / being collected.

4. Pupils must NEVER upload any messages or photos relating to school or fellow pupils to social networking sites.

We have had a recent instance of pupils uploading photographs taken in school to TikTok. We remind parents that primary school children do not meet the age restriction for the most popular social networking sites as advised in the ICT monthly newsletters sent home on Seesaw.