Deputy Principal Report
An exciting Term 2 has now come to an end. Along with teaching and learning, excursions, sporting carnivals and other celebrations, Evans has been focusing on attendance. We want our students to attend school every day and get the most from what the school has to offer.
Ensuring students attend school each day is important so your child can achieve their educational best and increase their career and life options. In addition, it teaches responsibility, commitment, and punctuality – all qualities needed for tertiary education and all qualities a future employer will want. So, what does this look like?
Attendance:
Students are required to attend school every day until they reach 17 years of age. Missing one day per week equals a total of eight weeks per year – that means they have missed two months of schooling. Unless a student is unwell or there is another important reason, they should be at school.
Absence:
The school will send you a text message if your child is absent. Parents/Carers should reply to this message to let the school know why your child is away. Longer periods of absence require a medical certificate. If you know your child will be away for a reason other than illness, please inform the school early so we can support your child as best possible and give you important information.
Absences can affect assessments. It is important we work together to support your child with their assessments if they are away.
Late to School:
School begins at 8:35 am each morning with roll call. Students arriving after the bell will be considered late and need to go straight to the front office to sign in. Parents/Carers will receive a text message informing you that your child was late to school. Please reply to this message to let the school know why your child was late.
Students need to make positive and proactive choices each morning that ensure they are able to arrive at school on time. This may include:
- Setting their alarm earlier.
- Packing their school bag, the night before with all necessary items.
- Catching a different bus that will be certain to arrive at school before 8:30 am.
Late to Class:
Students need to ensure they arrive on time for all their classes as well, including moving to class as soon as the bell for the end of recess or lunch goes. Arriving five minutes late to one class every day is effectively one period per fortnight. Five minutes late means that students are missing the beginning of a lesson which sets the learning for the rest of the period. Turning up late also disrupts the learning that has already started. All students need to take responsibility for their own time management and ensure they are getting to class on time.
Attendance Concerns:
If your child is not attending regularly, we will contact you and offer our support. We want to work with you to ensure your child attends school every day and gets the best education they can.
Every student is an individual and school may not suit every student, so there are a variety of options available. Students up to the age of 17 must be in approved education or training (e.g. TAFE, traineeship, apprenticeship), in full-time, paid employment (average 25 hours/week) or in a combination of work, education and/or training if they are not attending school. If your child is not wanting to attend school, we can help, please call us to organise a meeting.
Our focus at Evans is to build a culture of high expectations, academic achievement, and personal excellence. We want your child to be the absolute best they can be and this starts with regular attendance.