Torquay school earns national acclaim for exceptional improvements in student attendance

A Torquay school has been praised for its ‘exceptional’ work in getting more of its students to attend classes.

St Cuthbert Mayne School was singled out for praise after being named as one of the 20 most improved schools in the country.

Cllr Nick Bye (Con, Wellswood) told a meeting of Torbay’s children and young people’s overview and scrutiny committee: “They have really pulled out all the stops to make these improvements. The school is making huge impacts in the way it is working with children.”

Members heard that assaults and threatening behaviour were the most frequent causes of exclusions from local schools. Other absences were mainly down to illness, with flu and the winter vomiting virus among the causes.

The meeting heard that while the number of exclusions was falling across the bay’s schools, the numbers remained ‘stubbornly high’ and the bay was around 100th in a national ‘league table’ of councils.

A total of 976 fines were issued to Torbay families for non-attendance at schools in 2024/25, a number which puts Torbay below the national average.

Families are offered support before any penalty notices are issued, said Dan Hamer, who is the head of the bay’s ‘Virtual School’ which caters for children in care.

And, he said: “A lot of them are issued for the one thing we have no choice about, which is unauthorised absence through holiday. The national framework gives us no room. We are required to issue a penalty.”

Cllr Cordelia Law (Lib Dem, Tormohun) said the 976 cases represented almost 20,000 ‘lost learning hours’ of teaching which had to be caught up.

“There is a lot of anger among parents, but unfortunately it is national policy,” she said.