Children are entitled to a full time education which is suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs they may have and we will endeavour to encourage the children to attend, and to put in place appropriate procedures to support regular attendance. We believe that the most important factor in promoting good attendance is the development of positive attitudes towards school. To this end, we strive to make our school a happy and rewarding experience for all children.
There is a relationship between attendance of pupils and their development, attainment and progress.
Darwen St James Academy is committed to promoting good attendance as part of its dedication to ensure quality educational provision to give its pupils the best possible start in life.
If your child is unable to attend school due to illness please let the school office know before 8.45am.
Our Assistant Headteacher, Mrs Gonzalez is responsible for monitoring attendance and, along with Miss Evans, our Pupil Wellbeing Coordinator, she will contact the parents of any child whose attendance or time keeping is causing us concern.
Mrs Gonzalez and our Pupil Wellbeing team work closely with parents to support them in enabling their children to have good attendance. We aim for every child to have attendance at least the national average of 96%.
Please ensure that your child arrives at school punctually. Your child will be considered to be late if they arrive after 8.55am.
The Government issued new regulations in September 2013 regarding Leave of Absence; The Education (Pupil Regulations) (England) Regulations 2006 as amended by Education (Pupil Regulations) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013. View the Governments attendance and absence information here.
Headteachers shall not grant any Leave of Absence during term time unless they consider there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application.
Parents do not have any entitlement to take their children on holiday during term time.
The school can only consider applications for Leave of Absence which are made by the resident parent. i.e the parent with whom the child normally resides.
Applications for Leave of Absence must be made in advance and failure to do so will result in the absence being recorded as “unauthorised”. This may result in legal action against the parent/ carer, by way of a Fixed Penalty Notice.
To apply for a leave of absence please complete the holiday request form, if appropriate, and make an appointment to meet with the headteacher.
Minor Illness and School Attendance - A Guide for Parents
Weekly Attendance Newsletters 2022/23
Weekly Attendance Newsletters 2021/22
Weekly Attendance Newsletters 2020/21
Friday 08/07/22
Friday 01/07/22
Friday 24/06/22
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Advent Attendance and Punctuality Extravaganza 2021!
As it is the start of Advent on Sunday we are going to run our daily Advent attendance and punctuality extravaganza, starting on Monday until the end of term. Everyday we are going to randomly generate numbers to see which child they match to, then once we have checked that they were in school and on time they will win the daily prize. There will be a daily prize for EYFS/KS and the also for KS2. Our daily winners will be posted on dojo to share that good news with you all. We hope that this will boost our attendance figures and help us end the term more positively.
Please don’t forget that we also have our attendance and punctuality raffle to draw, each time your child is in school and /or on time all week they are entered into the prize draw, the more times they are in the more chances there are for them to be a winner. There will be a winner in EYFS/KS1 and KS2, who will each receive a tablet and also a family food voucher. The raffle will be drawn on Friday 17th December in celebration Worship.
Advent Attendance and Punctuality Extravaganza 1/12/20 – 18/12/20
What this means is that starting on the 1st and every school day after that, children who are in school and have arrived on time will have the opportunity to win an advent attendance prize (1 in EYFS and KS1 and 1 in KS2, so 2 a day). We are very excited, by this, it will be like a attendance advent calendar! We hope that this will help improve our overall attendance per week.
As well as this, we will be hosting our usual 100% attendance and punctuality, family voucher raffle (again 1 in EYFS and KS1 and 1 in KS2). However, this time we will be increasing the raffle as not only will families get the vouchers to help with the Christmas treats, but the children themselves will each receive a brand new tablet to keep. We will be drawing our raffle on the 18th Dec 2020, so only 3 weeks to go!
So to be in with a chance of winning all these great prizes, please make sure that your child is in school, every day and that they are here on time.
Weekly Attendance Winners Autumn 2 2020
The attendance and punctuality raffle for this half term was drawn on 17/12/20 and there were 2 lucky winners, Lauren in EYFS/KS1 and Jayden in KS2. Well done and congratulations to you both! You and your families each get to enjoy spending a £15 Asda voucher, and you are the lucky winners of a tablet! I wonder who next half terms winners will be?!
Weekly Attendance Winners Autumn 1 2020
The attendance and punctuality raffle for this half term was drawn on 22/10/20 and there were 2 lucky winners, Taomi in KS1 and Mark in KS2. Well done and congratulations to you both! You and your families each get to enjoy spending a £15 Sainsbury’s voucher. I wonder who next half terms winners will be!