Attendance Matters 

Attendance Reason Descriptions

DET works closely with each individual school's attendance teams to ensure accuracy in all attendance data for the safety and well being of all students..

The CSPS attendance data is closely monitored by our AIT (Attendance Improvement Team) in order to ensure consistency and accuracy.

To help with understanding what the attendance note reasons mean please read the following:

Medical/Illness - Student is not at school for medical reasons (in some circumstances a medical certificate may be requested).  Eg. unwell, injured or in hospital.

Medical Appointment - Student is not at school, attending a medical appointment.  Eg. GP, Dentist or other therapies.

Bereavement - Includes funeral, death in the family, absence due to a death.

Truancy  - Parent knows about absence, but doesn’t approve, or parent doesn’t know about absence.

Parent Choice - Parent Choice Unauthorised.  Parent explained for a reason that does not fit into any category, and the reason has not been approved.

Family Holiday - Student is away on a family holiday.  Note: for this reason to be approved by Leadership, a Student Absence Learning (SALP) must be in place.  Student absences for a family holiday without a SALP will be marked as Parent Choice Unauthorised.

Religious/Cultural Observance - Student is kept away from school for a religious or cultural reason.

Special note: When students participate in an event that is scheduled for only a portion of the school day, students are expected to attend the remainder of the day, or otherwise have an attendance note to explain their absence.

Parents are asked to please ensure accuracy when selecting the reasons why students are not present at school.  If the reason for absence does not fall under the categories available, please contact the Office for assistance.