Attendance Matters
A bright future for our students starts with good attendance levels, every day.
Attendance alone doesn’t guarantee positive outcomes for students; however, positive outcomes are less likely to occur without good attendance.
Every day counts
A day here or there may not seem like much, but if a student misses one day per fortnight, that equates to four weeks a year – and nearly 1.5 years missed by the end of Year 12!
Every minute matters
Being just 10 minutes late every day ads up to nearly half a year of lost schooling over the 13 years journey from Prep to Year 12.
Good habits start early
It’s important that children develop regular attendance habits – that’s an attendance figure of over 95% – at an early age. The pattern of attendance set in Prep and Year 1 is highly predictive of what it will be in subsequent years.
Let’s work together
Education is a partnership between the school and the home. Our attendance goal is a minimum of 90% or more of students attending 90% of more of the time, along with 0% unexplained absences.
The main reasons for absence – and how to address them
Sickness – naturally there are times when students need to miss school, such as when they’re ill. But it’s vital that they are away only on days they are genuinely sick. Setting good sleep patterns, eating well and exercising regularly can make a big difference.
Holidays – it’s vital that families plan their holidays for school holiday periods, and not during term time. This is actually a legal obligation on parents, and anyone wanting to take children out of school for holidays needs to seek approval in advance from the principal.
Days off – Letting a child have a ‘day off’ a few times a year means they could fall behind their classmates – every day counts.
Truancy – this is when students decide not to go to school, but without their parents’ permission or knowledge. There can be multiple reasons for this. The best way to address this problem is for schools and parents to work together.
Let’s work together to keep attendance high!