25th May 2025

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope this letter finds you well. As we progress through the academic year, I would like to emphasise the critical importance of regular school attendance and punctuality for your child’s educational success.

At Cathays High School, we teach our students that “every minute matters”. There is a strong link between attendance and academic achievement; students who attend school regularly are more likely to perform well academically and develop essential social skills.  Attending school on time is vital to ensure that learning is not missed, and punctuality is just as important as attendance.Studies show that pupils with attendance over 97% throughout their secondary school lives have a much higher chance of achieving five or more A*-C grades at GCSE. It is worth noting that being 10 minutes late to school each day equates to a whole lesson of lost learning over a week, and one day of lost learning over a six-week half-term.

We understand that there are challenges facing families that may affect a pupil’s attendance. Please know that we are here to support you and offer help where needed. If you would like to discuss any challenges that you are facing please contact your child’s head of year.

Starting on Monday 2nd June, we will be putting a particular emphasis on attending school on time for morning lessons. To encourage excellent attendance, we issue rewards through form tutor time and termly celebrations. We will be closely monitoring punctuality to school. Any child arriving after our registers close at 9am will be issued with a U code for the morning mark. A U code is the equivalent to an unauthorised absence.

We ask for your support in encouraging excellent attendance and punctuality by discussing the following with your child. Lessons start promptly at 8.30am and we expect all learners to be in classrooms, prepared and ready to start working by this time. To help with this we open the school gates at 8am and pupils can get free toast from the canteen. A 5 minute prompt bell rings at 8.25 to remind pupils to make their way to class. 30 minutes of learning missed each day is the equivalent of missing 3 whole lessons a week. That is 3 lessons of vital subject content and essential skills that are missing and catching up is very challenging for pupils in an already busy school week.

In line with Cardiff Council’s attendance processes, we will be implementing the following response to lateness to school starting on Monday 2nd June.   

• Pupils with 2 or more lates to school (arriving after 8.30am) in a week will be issued a reflection by their form tutor.
• Pupils arriving late to school (after 9am) will be issued a U code on the register.
• When a pupil has 5 U codes we will implement a monitoring period for a 3 week period. 
• If, within that period, the child acquires an additional five U codes, a referral to education welfare will be made, which may result in a fixed penalty notice and a fine.
  

Thank you for your continued support in ensuring that your child attends school regularly and on time. Together, we can help our students achieve their full potential. If you have any questions ahead of Monday 2nd June please contact your child’s Head of Year. 

Yours faithfully, 

Natasha Jones
Assistant Headteacher