Posted on: Friday 21 July 2023
A primary school has seen a significant reduction in the number of pupils classed as persistently absent.
Ponthir Primary School has seen an overall improvement in attendance rates since September thanks to the work of staff, including attendance officer Karen Price, who works closely with pupils and families to provide the support they need.
Like Year 4 pupil Toby who has seen his attendance increase from 87.47% last year, up to 96.96% this year.
The school has also embraced Torfaen Council’s #NotInMissOut campaign as a way of promoting the benefit of attending school regularly.
Headteacher Aisling O' Mahony, said: “The #NotInMissOut campaign has allowed us to provide unique insight into the daily, school lives of our learners. It has created a portal, into which parents and caregivers can peek, to see the experiences available to them and, therefore, how difficult it is to 'catch-up' or re-create those if they are missed.
“For example, our pupils have visited St Woolos Cathedral, to view an interactive performance about the life of Bishop William Morgan, a Stone Age camp, set up for the learners to explore; discovering endangered stag beetle larvae in our beautiful meadowland; a Bollywood dance experience - these all amount to real and authentic experiences that learners benefit hugely from.
“The opportunity to view these experiences, via our Twitter campaign, has allowed our parents and caregivers to really support us in maximising their children's attendance.
“I would like to thank my fantastic staff for working so tirelessly to create rich learning opportunities for our wonderful children. These experiences, coupled with the #NotInMissOut campaign, have had an amazing impact on attendance across the board.”