In Our Classrooms
Every Day Counts at Hazel Glen College
At Hazel Glen College, we know that strong attendance sets the foundation for student success. Being at school every day gives children the best chance to learn, grow and feel connected to their school community.
Why Regular Attendance Matters
Each school day plays an important role in your child’s learning journey. Consistent attendance helps students to:
- Build strong learning foundations by developing essential skills and knowledge across all curriculum areas
- Develop socially and emotionally through friendships, daily routines and positive interactions that foster confidence and belonging
- Maintain learning momentum, reducing gaps in understanding and avoiding unnecessary stress or overwhelm
Understanding Attendance Patterns
To help families stay informed and supported, we monitor attendance using the following categories:
- Repeated Absences: 5–10 days absent per term
- Ongoing At-Risk Absence: 11–15 days absent per term
- Chronic Absence: 16–25 days absent per term
We recognise that absences can sometimes be unavoidable, particularly due to illness. However, regular attendance and punctuality remain key contributors to your child’s academic progress, wellbeing and connection to school.
How You Can Support Your Child’s Attendance
Positive routines and early conversations can make a big difference. Families can support strong attendance by:
- Talking openly about school — ask your child how they’re feeling, what they enjoy and if anything is worrying them
- Being aware of potential challenges, such as:
- Bullying or cyberbullying
- Feeling disconnected or isolated
- Learning difficulties or feeling overwhelmed
- Low engagement or motivation
- Friendship or teacher relationship concerns
- Competing commitments
- Feeling misunderstood or culturally excluded
- Celebrating attendance achievements, reinforcing the value of consistency and punctuality
- Modelling commitment by demonstrating responsibility and reliability in everyday life
- Encouraging participation in school activities, sports or clubs to strengthen friendships and belonging
- Establishing consistent routines, including:
- Adequate sleep
- Completing homework
- Packing school bags the night before
- Eating breakfast and arriving on time
- Planning transport arrangements (for example, walking with a friend)
Working in Partnership
Every day truly counts. If you have any concerns about your child’s attendance, we encourage you to contact their classroom teacher early so we can work together to create a supportive plan. By partnering with families, we can help ensure every student enjoys a positive, consistent and successful school experience.
If your child misses: | That equals: | or: | From Kinder to Year 12 that adds up to: | Which is the equivalent of attending until: |
1 day per fortnight | 20 days per year | 1 month per year | Nearly 1 and a half years | Part way through year 11 |
1 day per week | 40 days per year | 2 months per year | Over 2 and a half years | Part way through year 10 |
2 days per week | 80 days per year | 4 months per year | Over 5 years | The end of year 7 |
3 days per week | 120 days per year | 6 months per year | Nearly 8 years | The end of year 4 |
If your child misses: | That equals: | Which is: | And over 13 years of schooling that equates to: |
10 minutes per day | 50 minutes per week | Nearly 1.5 weeks per year | Nearly half a year |
20 minutes per day | 1 hour and 40 minutes per week | Nearly 2.5 weeks per year | Nearly 1 whole year |
Half and hour per day | Half a day per week | 4 weeks per year | Nearly 1 and a half years |
1 hour per day | 1 day per week | 8 weeks per year | Nearly 2 and a half years |
Why Attendance Matters!
Did you know that students who attend school regularly are more likely to succeed academically and socially? Every day counts—missing even just one day a fortnight adds up to nearly 4 weeks of lost learning over the year! Let's work together to build strong attendance habits that set our students up for success.
More than just academic content, school is where children practise social skills, develop friendships, build routines, and form positive habits that support lifelong learning. When attendance is irregular, students can struggle to stay connected—both with the curriculum and with their peers.
New Outdoor Play Equipment
It has been wonderful to see students enthusiastically enjoying the new outdoor play equipment in the yard. The equipment has provided exciting opportunities for active play, collaboration and creativity. Across recess and lunch time, students have been observed building friendships, practising teamwork and developing resilience as they support one another. The new play equipment has already become a valued part of our College environment, promoting positive wellbeing and active, inclusive play for all students.
Year 6 Science
Our Year 6 scientists put their measuring skills to the test by carefully measuring and mixing colourful liquids. With pipettes and measuring cylinders in hand, students practised accuracy, teamwork, and a steady hand—science in action!
Year 2 Italian
The Year 2 students are reviewing the colour names in Italian. Puzzles are used to help them in spelling Italian words and in sound recognition and pronunciation. Students are using their skills to complete a puzzle that requires them to place the letters of each colour in the right place in the word. They are showing that they can read and say the colour names.
Year 3 Italian
The Year 3 students are learning about the culture of Carnevale in Italy. Students are learning that during Carnevale, people dress in costumes and wear masks. They are also learning about Carnevale characters. Students are in the process of creating paper puppets that they will be using to play scenes using Italian words and sentences they have learned. It's show time!
Inter-School Sport Results
We were incredibly proud of our Year 6 cohort and the way they represented Hazel Glen College at their first inter-school sports round. Staff from other schools commented on the wonderful sportsmanship and behaviour of our Hazel Glen students. We enjoyed seeing our students encouraging their team and the other team, trying their best and remembering to shake hands at the end of the game. Well done to our Year 6 students and we look forward to seeing our teams represent Hazel Glen throughout the year. Please see below a report of last week's scores for each team.
Basketball purple
Girls HGC 71 Mernda 18
Boys HGC 100 Mernda 16
Mixed won by forfeit
Basketball White
Girls HGC 0 St Josephs 51
Boys HGC 28 St Josephs 24
Mixed HGC 4 St Josephs 8
Cricket purple
Boys HGC 241 Mernda 70
Girls won by forfeit
Cricket White
Boys HGC 58 St Josephs 106
Girls HGC 45 St Josephs 86
T-ball purple
Boys HGC 21 Mernda 16
Girls HGC 20 Mernda 12
T-ball White
Boys HGC 5 St Josephs 13
Girls HGC 13 St Josephs 18
Free resources for families of adolescents aged 10 to 14 years
The Department of Education has launched an Easing into adolescence webpage for families of students aged 10 to 14 (Grade 5 to Year 8).
The webpage has information and strategies you can use to help ease your child into adolescence and secondary school. These include:
- a guide to emotion coaching. Staff from The University of Melbourne’s Tuning in to Teens Kids program developed the guidance.
- how to support your adolescent with their studies and more generally. Parenting expert and clinical psychologist Andrew Fuller helped develop this resource.