Why do schools bang on about attendance? Does it really matter if a student misses a day here or there? Coming late, why are you making such a big deal?

What we know about absenteeism from school is that it has a compounding effect on student outcomes. As a school all we want for our students is that they can have a 'good life' post school. By a good life we mean, the opportunity to pursue further education, get an apprenticeship, get a job, earn a living, buy a car, purchase a house/apartment, raise a family. Absenteeism from school can erode life opportunities, it is an invisible enemy of academic progress and future success.

Life outcomes

Consider this, missing a day a week of school between Foundation and Year 12 can equate to a loss of 1.5 years of learning, those who attend school regularly are more likely to be able to successfully complete a senior school qualification. Research by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2011 suggests that those have completed Year 12 or an equivalent qualification are more likely to continue with further education or training and have a more successful transition into the workforce (ABS 2011).

The economic benefit to the individual of completing a tertiary qualification is evident. Someone with a university degree is likely to earn in excess of $1 million more over their lifetime than a person who does not finish Year 12, according to a new report (AITSL Spotlight – Attendance Matters). The same can be said for those who complete a tertiary qualification such as an apprenticeship or traineeship.

In addition to the academic benefits, the social benefits of schooling are also significant. The social disconnect that occurs when a young person does not consistently connect to their peers on a regular basis can lead to social anxiety and/or social developmental delay. The more students stay away, the harder it is for them to get back into school with their mates.

The data from our 2022 Student Attitude to School Survey suggests our community understands the importance of attendance and that parents/carers have high expectations for school completion. This is great data from our students indicating that they understand the importance of attaining an education.

	% Positive response
	ALL	7	8	9	10	11	12
Attitudes to attendance - OVERALL	79%	85%	72%	78%	83%	83%	87%
I always try to attend school	82%	91%	75%	80%	91%	88%	92%
My parent(s), caregiver(s) or guardian(s) expect(s) me to complete Year 12	89%	90%	88%	89%	90%	89%	89%
I try to catch up on my work if I am absent from school	65%	73%	54%	66%	67%	70%	80%

The maths

Missing more than 10% of school days per year, shows that regardless of the type, absence has a compounding negative impact on academic performance (Gershenson et al., 2017; Gottfried, 2009; Zubrick, 2014). The table below indicates the impact of days missed at school.

Young people of great character

Being organised and arriving on time for work on time is part of being a successful employee in the adult world. We try to work with families to teach students the skills that will make them successful as adults. We introduced 'late room' in 2019, where students are not permitted to go to class period 1 when they arrive late. Since we introduced late room, we have had a decrease in lateness to period 1 of around 70%. Some parents/carers don't agree with late room but when you consider the impact it has had on improving attendance, we believe it has had a positive impact. Late room also prevents the interruption of the learning of others who have arrived on time and done the correct thing.

What difference can you make as parents/carers

Sandringham College has a 90% attendance requirement for all students. 90% means that students can miss no more than 30min in any week or 1 period per fortnight.

Ways that you can support your child to be on time and at school:

Ensure that your child attends school regularly - except when legitimately ill
Ensure that you communicate via COMPASS when your child is away and why
Ensure that you understand the College's attendance requirements, particularly those of the VCE and VCE Vocational Major and Victorian Pathways Certificate
Ensure that your child is getting 8-10 hours of good quality sleep, free from ICT distractions each night so that they wake up with energy able to attend school
Make sure your child is at school on time and ready to learn each day
Support the school when we put in place consequences for students who arrive late or are truant
Contact us if you have concerns about your child and you feel that they are avoiding attendance, developing mental health or other wellbeing issues

OUR ATTENDANCE STARS!

Below are the students with the best attendance record at our school. We will be awarding each of these students with one of the sought after canteen Brownie Vouchers and also putting all names into the draw for a double movie pass at each year level.

Congratulations to these students and their families for valuing being at school and making the most of their opportunities!

Student Name	Attendance %
YEAR 7
KAMIYA, Seirai.	100
MANDARINO, Piero	100
TAM, Kieran	100
JONES, Natalie	99
MOREY, Oscar	99
WELSH, Pamela	99
SALUNI, Anastasia	98
SHETTY, Nish	98
STUART, Amelia	98
TAYLOR, Evie	98
YEAR 8
SCULLI, Tabitha	100
RALPH, Mila	99
CECALA, Zoe	97
JOHNSON, Fred	97
KOO, Matthew	97
BAJAJ, Mahika	96
CECALA, Lily	96
CLARKE, Archie	96
MALIC, Samuel	96
STRAITON, Alex	96
WRIGHT, Alex	96
YEAR 9
HU, Maggie	100
UPTON, Sienna	99
HARVIE, Grace	98
HENDERSON, Paige	98
JIN, Jin	98
SMITH, Fynn	98
VA, Yu	98
POLITZ, Zara	97
AYLEN, Oakley	96
HAKKENNES, Chloe	96
KATAKOUZINOS, James	96
KOLOSTOUBIS, George	96

Student Name	Attendance %
YEAR 10
LOERBROKS, Paul	100
TRENFIELD, Oli	99
VAN MOOK, Tom	99
KELLETT, Freddie	98
LO PRESTI, Gaetano	98
SHAND, Caleb	98
SHEPHERD-SMITH, Henok	98
SCULLI, Aaron	97
DIMSEY, Oscar	96
MILLER, Alex	96
YEAR 11
CHEN, Melissa	100
CLELAND, Bailey	100
HIN-ON, Fuang	100
ROBINSON, Beau	99
PASSERINI, Alessandra	99
GRIBBLE, Amelia	98
TODD-CHIDLEY, Olivia	98
TOWNSEND, Harison	97
MCCORMACK, Evie	97
KATAKOUZINOS, Peter	96
JORDAN SEARA, Miguel	96
LAWLESS, Amber	96
MERRICK, Samuel	96
YEAR 12
CHILDERLEY, Finn	100
SATO, Koshi	100
HAJIS, George	99
UPTON, Lily	99
CALDWELL, Joshua	99
CASTLE, Dan	98
COLEMAN, Jack	98
HAJIS, Kosta	98
MOODY, William	98
SMITH, Cameron	98
COLE, Liam	98
FOTAKIS, Timon	98
PAVLIDIS, Kiriako	98
PHAM, Mimi	98
SHENOY, Maya	98

PARENTS - GAT INFORMATION

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