Attendance and Punctuality

At St James we are committed to raising the attainment of the pupils at our school. To ensure all pupils achieve their potential it is vital that they attend school daily and are on time. This page will give you all the information you might need about attendance and punctuality at St James. If you wish to talk to someone about attendance please come into the school office to make an appointment with our Attendance Officer: Mrs Harvey.

Current Whole School Attendance: 92.9%

Current National Average: 93.9% (9th January)

Whole School Attendance Target: 95%

Attendance: Did You Know?…..

If your child is 30 minutes late every day they miss 2 and a half hours a week. That works out at 4 days a term and 12 days a year!

If your child is between 5 and 16 years old and is a registered pupil at school, it is your legal responsibility to make sure they attend regularly.

If your child misses 1 day of school a week they miss 7 and a half weeks a year. This is more than half a terms learning!

• Pupils whose attendance is 90% or less are less likely to achieve and progress at their full potential.
• Pupils whose attendance is 80% are more likely to have their future education severely impacted on.
• Pupils with no absence are 13 times more likely to achieve at a higher level than their peers.
• Pupils with no absence are 22 times more likely to do better at secondary school than their peers.

Punctuality: Did You Know?…..

Being punctual and on time is a key life skill and it is important for children to learn this. At St. James, the school gates are opened at 8:45am and are closed at 9:00am. Children arriving after 9:00am need to sign in at the office. If children arrive after 9:30am, this is marked as an unauthorised absence.

• 5 minutes late every day is the same as missing 3 days of school.
• 15 minutes late every day is the same as missing 10 days of school.
• 30 minutes late every day is the same as missing 19 days of school.

What We Do!

Scores On The Doors: Each classroom has their daily and average attendance displayed on their doors. When classes achieve 5 days of 100% attendance (they do not need to be consecutive) they are rewarded with an extra playtime.

Attendance and Punctuality assembly: At the end of each half-term we have an attendance assembly where children with attendances of 95% or above receive an award from the Principal. We chose 95% as this is our whole school target and we understand that sometimes children are ill or there are other circumstances that may prevent them from attending school. Children with perfect punctuality are also rewarded during this assembly.

 Termly Attendance Rewards: The class with the best attendance at the end of the term will be able to celebrate with a prize of their choosing (within reason of course!)

Attendance display: In the school hall/dining room the whole school attendance race display takes pride of place. Each week the attendance for all classes is collated and their class horse progresses down the track towards the winning post.

Holidays in Term Time

All Manchester schools share the government’s determination to raise levels of pupil attendance and achievement in order to ensure the best possible start in life for our children. Legal responsibility for attending school regularly lies with parents and carers. As a result of this school does not authorise any school holidays during term time. To ensure fairness to all families we do not authorise any term time holidays and ask that parents and carers take their holidays during the 13 weeks of holiday.