Senior Years and Wellbeing 

Pastoral Care

Dear Families,

 

Welcome back. I hope the summer break has been a restful period for you all and a chance to catch up with precious family.

 

Each week in the newsletter, Mrs Kate Couchman (School Counsellor) and I will include what I hope are helpful and interesting articles for students and parents. If you come across something that you think would benefit our College community I would love to hear from you.

 

Today, I would like to alert all families to our new attendance and absences policy that has been introduced this year.

 

ATTENDANCE AND ABSENCES POLICY

Rationale

The Hamilton and Alexandra College aims to maximise learning opportunities by ensuring absences are kept to a minimum. For students to succeed at school and to achieve their potential, research suggests the need for them to consistently attend their timetabled classes. The College therefore has in place agreed processes to manage student absences and ensure students, staff and parents/guardians have a shared understanding of the importance of attending school.

 

Attendance Requirements For Years P - 10

Students in Years P-10 are expected to attend 100% of timetabled classes, unless there is

an approved reason.

 

Absences must be reported to school by a parent/guardian, explaining the reason for an

absence.

 

Parents/Guardians are expected to notify the school by phone/email or skoolbag app by

8:45am to explain the reason for a student absence. The College will contact the parent/guardian if an absence has not been notified.

 

Class Teachers, Mentors and Heads of House will monitor attendance. If a student’s

overall school attendance falls below 90%, then the parent/guardian may be contacted

by the student’s Mentor/Head of House. If attendance does not improve after initial

contact, a follow up meeting will occur with the Head of House and Head of Junior

School/Head of Middle Years/Deputy Principal Senior Years.

 

Students with attendance below 90% may be at risk of exclusion from co-curricular activities.

 

If, due to excessive absences a student falls below 80% attendance this will impact on the student’s learning and ultimately on their ability to be promoted to the next year level. A parent/student meeting with the Head of House and Head of Middle Years/Deputy Principal Senior Years and Wellbeing will occur to review the promotion.

 

Absences fall into two categories: Approved and Unapproved. Whole school events such as House Athletics, Swimming and Cross Country are approved absences from timetables classes; further examples are provided in the table below.

 

Approved

Unapproved

Illness

Family commitments

Family bereavements (with parental notification)

Sleeping in or missing transport

A student being sent home sick from the school

Personal issues without explanation

Medical or dental appointments that could not be made out of school hours.

Family Holidays and extended long weekends

School Approved Co-Curricular Activities

Preparation or completion of work due in other subjects.

Academic excursions (approved by the Head of Faculty)

 

 

ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR VCE

Students in Years 11 and 12 are expected to attend 100% of timetabled classes, unless there is an approved reason. Each VCE Unit requires 50 hours of class time. Students should maintain this 100% attendance in order to meet these VCAA requirements and demonstrate they have effectively met Unit outcomes.

 

Absences must be reported to school by a parent/guardian, explaining the reason for an absence.

 

Parents/Guardians are expected to notify the school by phone/email or skoolbag app by 8:45am to explain the reason for a student absence. The College will contact the parent/guardian if an absence has not been notified.

 

Mentors and Heads of House will monitor attendance. If a student’s overall school attendance falls below 90%, then the parent/guardian will be contacted by the student’s Mentor/Head of House. If attendance does not improve after initial contact, a follow up meeting will occur with the Head of VCE Studies and the Deputy Principal Senior Years and Wellbeing. If unapproved absences exceed 10%, it may be difficult for students to demonstrate they have met the required Outcomes for VCE Units and this may cause them to receive an “N” Not-Satisfactory for the Unit.

 

Absences fall into two categories: Approved and Unapproved. Whole school events such as House Athletics, Swimming and Cross Country are approved; further examples are provided in the table below. For other co-curricular activities, an ‘Intention to attend a non-academic event form” must be completed for the absence to be approved.

 

A medical certificate will be required if absences are for more than two consecutive days or on days when SATs or SACs are scheduled/due. (See VCE Policies and Procedures).

 

If a student is absent on the day of a SAC/SAT. An Application to Reschedule a SAC/SAT Form must be submitted along with appropriate documentation to the Head of VCE