Craigieburn Secondary College Newsletter

Attendance 

Welcome back to all our students and families. We value your continued support in achieving 100% attendance for your child/children – Every Day and Minute Counts!

HOW THE COLLEGE WILL COMMUNICATE  ABSENCES

College absence communications are automated to best support parents/guardians to meet their requirements under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 and to promptly report absences.

  • At 10am an absent text message is sent to parents/guardians for students marked ABSENT from Form Assembly or Period 1 or both periods.
  • At 3pm an absent text message is sent to parents/guardians for students marked ABSENT all day.
  • Every Monday Unexplained absent emails are automatically generated from Compass to parents/guardians based on teacher roll marking. Please check the attached emailed letter carefully for specific unexplained dates and classes.

 

At Craigieburn Secondary College attendance and engagement takes high priority and is highly supported by Education Support & Sub-school staff, Teachers and by our multi-disciplinary health care teams. We encourage all families to contact the College to promptly explain these absences so as the College can best support your family and your child/ren during these challenging times.

 

To report absences or lateness to school, please follow one of the options to explain absences and/or request attendance & engagement support.

 

The College prides itself on keeping attendance records as accurate and as up-to-date as possible, however, at times explained absences may not be updated prior to absence communications. Attendance records are uploaded daily to the Department of Education and Training to support COVID Safe practices, contact tracing, accountability and benchmarking purposes. 

Students experiencing difficulties returning to school or engaging in the face to face learning will not penalised on parent/guardian contact and immediate supports will be provided.

 

Every Day Counts - It's Never To Late to Improve Attendance - We thank you!

 

Communicating Approved, Unapproved & Unexplained absences – Starting term 1 week 4

The College attendance policy can be found on the College website under the parent info & COVID_19 updates pages and is developed to support each family to assist their child/ren where possible achieve 100% attendance.

Starting term 1 week 4 families will be communicated if an absence is deemed by the College as:

  1. Explained Approved Absences - these are absences where the explanation is reasonable
  2. Explained Unapproved Absences - these are absences where the College has determined the explanation is not reasonable
  3. Unexplained Absences - these are absences where no reasons have been provided
  4. Absence Amended – medical certificate, specialist certification has been provided and attendance records have been updated and DET/VCE compliant and approved

By communicating if an absence is ‘Approved, Unapproved, Unexplained or Amended we are providing you with how the College can help your child/children achieve 100% attendance.

The College wishes to ensure that all parent/guardians/carers have a clear understanding of how they can meet their legal obligations under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006. We encourage to you visit the Department of Education and Training (DET) “Attendance and missing school” information for parents to best understand attendance matters; how every day counts and general information on “going to school”.

 

 

Attendance Communication Summary

  • If no communication is received to the College, an unexplained absence will be recorded.
  • Unexplained absences will initiate an Unexplained absence email for families to provide a valid reason for absence.
  • Continued Unexplained Absences will initiate Attendance Unexplained communication generated by Compass.
  • Explained absence will initiate an Approved or Unapproved or Amended chronicle email generated by Compass.
  • Attendance <90% - Attendance at Risk emails generated offering help, but most importantly, to build positive family partnerships, engagement and support to families to improve their child/ren's attendance.

We would like our families to feel supported through this process, and as such the attendance communication and reminders are designed for you to gain full understanding of the circumstances behind absenteeism. This provides the basis for the College and families to work together to improve student attendance.

 

EXPLAINED ABSENCE - SUPPORTING STUDENTS AT RISK OF DISENGAGEMENT FROM SCHOOL

 

It is important for families to understand that the DET has a 90% attendance requirement, evidenced for your child to be achieving their full potential academically, socially and emotionally. Hence regardless of the type of absence (approved or unapproved) when a student's attendance rate reaches less than 90%, the student is considered at attendance risk. 

At this point the College will introduce attendance interventions that may include:

  • Phone or email contact
  • Regular monitoring of attendance and student’s academic progress
  • student and school engagement profile
  • student support group meetings & plan
  • return to school planning & individual learning planning
  • referrals to the College Allied Health Team and/or referrals to external service providers
  • whatever it takes to keep your child engaged in learning and continue being part of the college learning community.

Family holidays within the school term are unapproved unless pre-approved by your child/children’s sub-school and an extended absence learning plan has been pre-arranged. Students absent for any extended time require an extended learning plan; please contact your child’s year level coordinator to request this learning support.

 

If you have any questions about the attendance communications and coding, please contact Andrea Brislin - Attendance Officer or Sub-school staff for student engagement and learning supports on 93081144 or email attendance at attendance@craigieburnsc.vic.edu.au. 

 

Visit Coronavirus and the Back to School Plan for more information.

 

Families are reminded to update your family contact details as they change to receive College attendance notifications and general information.

Every day counts when it comes to getting the best educational and social emotional outcomes for your child/ren! We are here to help and Welcome Back Once Again!