IMPORTANCE OF SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
All children aged 6-17 years are required to be enrolled at a registered school. Unless students have an illness or medical condition which prevents them from attending, a bereavement or prior arrangements have been made with their school, all students are expected to be there. School attendance is mandated under the Education Training and Reform Act 2006 and it is the responsibility of parents/ carers to ensure their child regularly attends school.
Regular absences do have an impact on learning. For example, if a student misses one day of a school a fortnight that equates to 20 days or 1 month of schooling per year, which is an enormous amount of missed learning time.
Evidence shows that daily school attendance is important for young people to succeed in education and to ensure they don’t fall behind both socially and developmentally. Young people who regularly attend school and complete Year 12 or an equivalent qualification have better health outcomes, better employment outcomes, and higher incomes across their lives.
If students are absent the College requires written contact from parents/guardians regarding the reason for the absence. An absence will be marked as ‘unexplained’ if no explanation is provided to the College by the parent or carer of the student.
The staff have raised some concerns that there are a number of our students who are arriving late on a regular basis. Unfortunately this is a situation that can have a negative effect on the education of not only those students who are late, but other students in the class.
What impact does being late have on the student?
Students who are late miss a lot of instructions and information, not to mention important learning sessions. This means that they have to catch up somehow. Students also miss out on catching up with their friends in the playground before school. Students can feel unsettled, disorganized and unhappy for the rest of the day and it can take them some time to complete and understand the work that they have missed.
How does it affect the other students in the class?
Students who are late have an unsettling effect on the rest of the class. Not all late students arrive at once; the interruptions go on until the last student is settled. Students who are late often have things that need to be done prior to them joining the class, which causes even more disruption. Sometimes other students have to wait to get the teacher’s attention and important issues can be forgotten.
We are all human. Cars can break down and unexpected situations can occur. We know that family morning routines are not always straightforward. If you are experiencing problems, speak to us, as we may be able to offer suggestions to help. We are happy to accept that students will be late on the odd occasion because of unforeseen circumstances. However, arriving late on a regular basis is not acceptable. Please remember a student who is half an hour late each day misses the equivalent of 16.6 days of learning each year.