Venerable Edward Morgan Catholic Primary • Cylchlythyr Ysgolion 2025-26, Rhifyn 3, 16 Ionawr '26 ~ School Newsletter 2025-26, Issue 3, 16 January '26 •

Message from the Head

Croeso Pawb

Welcome back! This is our first newsletter for 2026. The weather certainly made things interesting in the first few days of the new term. A big thank you to our new caretaker, Mr Bond, for dealing with the conditions so well and making the site safe. I’m sure you have all met him on the gate in the morning.

It’s promising to be another busy term, with new topics, Eisteddfod, World Book Day, and residential trips for Ks2 pupils - just a few of the events coming up.

Please check below for the important dates this term.

Shwmae! Criw Cymraeg yma!

Thank you to everyone who bought the Welsh themed bracelets we made and sold at the Christmas fair. We sold out! The proceeds will help to add stock to our Siop Cymraeg, where pupils spend their Tocyn Iaith, awarded for speaking good Welsh.

Junior pupils learned about the New Year Tradition of Mari Lwyd this week, it’s an old and strange tradition, ask your child about it!

We  are also busy getting ready to celebrate Diwrnod Santes Dwynwen on the  25th January '26. A Saint that shared God’s Love with others. Have you been to Llandwyn on Ynys Mon- Anglesey, where Santes Dwynwen’s Church is?

We are holding a ‘Dyfalwch Enw- Guess the name’ of a little heart holding teddy bear. It’s 50p an entry and the person that guesses the name correctly will take home the little teddy.

Pob Lwc!

Class Assembly Dates

Class assemblies for the Academic Year 2025/2026 will take place on:

Friday Mornings at 10am

Parents, Carers and Grandparents are welcome!

• 6th February 2026 - Dosbarth Maple
• 6th March 2026 - Dosbarth Ash
• 8th May 2026 - Dosbarth Willow
• 19th June 2026 - Dosbarth Cherry

Attendance

We want every child who comes to Venerable Edward Morgan to be happy and feel like they belong to our school family. In order to achieve this pupils need to attend school as often as they can.

Poor attendance can have a negative impact on your child’s self-esteem and friendship groups. Poor attendance will also have a negative impact on your child’s progress through the curriculum. They can’t make achievements against this curriculum if they are not here.

So …Why does every day attendance matter? Well… here is some data to highlight the impact poor attendance can have.

• Half a day off in a week = 90% attendance
• 1 day off in a week = 80% attendance
• One and a half days off in a week = 70% attendance
• 2 days off in a week = 60% attendance

However, we do understand that there are times when attendance is not possible. We put these into 2 categories. Authorised and unauthorised.

Authorised absence

If your child is unwell we would expect you to make the judgement as to whether they would be well enough to attend school. Please let school know on the first morning of any absence so school can record the correct attendance mark promptly. If they are unable to attend school then they will have an “I” recorded to signify they are off ill. We can also give a recording of “M” for a medical appointment. However, we kindly ask, where possible, that all medical and dental appointment are made after school hours or during school holidays. We would expect, again where possible, pupils to be able to come to school before and after their appointments.

We do like to help where ever possible and so if your child has more than 10 days (20 sessions) absence the school may contact you to see if there is anything we can do as a school to help you.

Unauthorised Absence

If a child does not attend school and we do not receive notification as to why from either a phone call or letter, then it shall be recorded as unauthorised. Late after registration is also counted as an unauthorised absence, if no reason is provided. Any incident of 10 sessions missed through unauthorised absence will be investigated by the school and may result in a referral to the education inclusion team.

Request for Leave of Absence

It is possible to request leave for your child for a special occasion or holiday.

The decision as to whether the absence can be authorised lies solely with the head teacher. Parents do not have an automatic right to withdraw pupils from school during the school term for a holiday. The head teacher will make the decision and may include the following contributory factors:

• Time of year
• Length of time
• Overall percentage of attendance
• Impact on the child's learning

You are able to request up to 10 days absence which must be done where possible at least 28 days before the period of leave. The head teacher will then assess each case on its own merits and report back to you detailing as to the reasons why the request has been approved, or indeed, unapproved.

There are other circumstances where absence may be approved, some of which will not affect attendance, such as Educational and/or residential visits, educated off site etc…

Click the button below to download the Leave of Absence Form

Punctuality

Being on time for school is another way you can support your child being ‘School Ready’. For some children arriving late when the class routine has started can be very unsettling and can have an impact on the rest of the day. Children really hate being late for school. It can make them anxious and upset about attending school. If you have problems in getting your child to school on time you must let the head teacher know as soon as possible.

Our school gates open at 8:45am and the bell rings to signal the start of the school day at 8:55am. It is advisable to have your child in school for 8:45am. If you need to drop your child off earlier we have a breakfast club which starts at 8:15am and pupils in Reception to Year 6 are able to attend. Please ask in the office how to book. Lateness can add up to a lot of lost learning.

I hope this helps you understand why attendance and punctuality is so important to us at Venerable Edward Morgan – but more importantly why it is important for your children.