Legal Intervention
St Mary’s School works closely with the School Attendance Team of Dorset County Council. High levels of unauthorised absence, for any reason, could result in a referral to consider legal action. The School Attendance Team has the power to issue a Fixed Penalty Notice or to consider further legal action where appropriate.
Who to contact in school
To report a student absence please contact 01929 424909 and speak to a member of staff or leave a message and we can phone you back.
To discuss any concerns, the first point of contact in school is your child’s teacher or the Headteacher, Mr Frame.
Term Time Holidays
There are 190 school days each year, leaving 175 days when pupils do not attend school. It is expected that holidays will be taken during these times. Taking a student on holiday for two weeks will reduce their attendance to 94% before there has been any other time off for illnesses etc. The law says that parents do not have the right to take their children out of school for holidays during term time. Applications for term time holidays are likely to be refused. However, in exceptional circumstances the headteacher can authorise leave from school. If you want to apply for leave due to exceptional circumstances please put your request in writing to Mr Frame using the ‘Notification of Absence request form’ and hand in to the school office. Any holidays taken without the authorisation of the headteacher will be marked in the register as unauthorised absence, and could lead to a Fixed Penalty Notice being issued.