Posted on: Friday 12 May 2023
Pupils playing with equipment at Techniquest
Pupils at Llantarnam Community School are aiming to return to an average of 95 per cent attendance.
Before the pandemic, the school regularly recorded 95 per cent attendance across all 11 classes. Since then, average attendance is now around 92 per cent.
Headteacher Laura Perrett said: "Regular attendance is vital to pupils education and we were very proud of our attendance rate before the pandemic.
"Since then, average attendance has fallen but we are working with our school community including pupils, parents and governors to get back to where we were, and to support children and families where needed."
One of the ways the school promotes good attendance is with a "penalty shoot out" during assemblies on Friday, when class attendance rates for that week are cheered or commiserated.
The school has also reintroduced school trips and recently pupils visited Techniquest, in Cardiff, as part of their To Infinity and Beyond topic and Rest Bay, in Porthcawl.
Marnie said: " I love going on trips to new places with my friends in the class. I loved all the amazing equipment which taught us lots about science."
Dylan said: "The best thing about the trip was having lunch on the beach and building the sandcastles."
Next week, pupils will be celebrating Walk to School Week thanks to a new footpath and cycle route from Court Farm Road.
As well as creating the 180-metre path thanks to money from the Welsh Government's Active Travel and Safer Routes funding, Torfaen Council has also installed cycle and scooter storage to encourage more pupils to travel to school actively.
Find out some of the other reasons pupils enjoy visiting Llantarnam Community Primary by searching for the hashtag on Twitter.