Attendance

Attendance is a key factor in improving a student's connectedness to school, their peers and their learning. It is also an essential factor in improving student academic growth and achievement. 

Attendance Requirements

It’s the law that children 6 to 17 years old go to school or be home schooled. You are legally responsible for making sure your child goes to school every day. Attendance and Missing School, Department of Education, https://www.vic.gov.au/attendance-and-missing-school

Edgars Creek Secondary College's Attendance Policy reflects the overall requirements as determined by the Victorian Department of Education, stipulating that a minimum of 90% attendance is required for each student in each school year.

How this 90% rate is calculated reflects the complexities and requirements at certain levels of secondary education:

• At Years 7 and 8, the 90% is determined by total number of days at school.
• At Years 9 to 12, it is determined by 90% attendance in each subject or unit of work.

This latter requirement reflects the strict guidelines prescribed by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) around requirements to pass senior secondary certificates.

Current Trends

Australia-wide

The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) released a report entitled Spotlight - Attendance Matters, examining how school attendance was faring in Australian schools.

The overall school attendance picture in Australia is good. Year 1-10 students attend, on average, 92% of ‘available school days’ in Australia (ACARA, 2018).

While overall attendance in Australian schools was sitting above the 90% mark, some areas of concern included (but were not limited) were that

• 25% of Australian school students attend less than 90% of school days –this equates to approximately 20 or more days absent in a school year
• attendance begins to decline from Year 8 onwards

There are, on average, 200 school days in each school year. Even with a 92% attendance rate, a student would still be missing 16 days of school - essentially three weeks' worth - over the school year. 

Edgars Creek Secondary College

Overall attendance at each year level this year is higher than at the same point in 2022. While it has been tracking steadily, attendance across all year levels has already fallen below the minimum 90% attendance rate. 

When compared to this point last year, attendance has steadily improved, but there is still a lot of room for improvement at each year level.

AITSL's Attendance Matters report highlighted that around 75% of students across Australia attend school for 90% of school days each year. 

If 75% of students attend at least 90% of the time then the reverse suggests that 25% (1 in 4) Australian students were absent for more than 10% of school time, or 20 or more days. These students are missing at least a month of school over the schooling year.

When we look at our overall absence data from 2022, 56% of students at Edgars Creek Secondary College spent more than 20 days absent - over one month of school.

Even more concerning is that 37% of students spent more than 30 days absent - more than six weeks' worth of absence from school. Attendance is a strong contributor to students' academic success. Spending anywhere near 20 or above days away from school is not conducive to academic achievement.

Reporting Absences

The DE is very clear on the requirements for reporting a student absence:

Let the school know as soon as possible and explain why your child can’t come to school.

At Edgars Creek Secondary College, families report their absences either by:

• Calling the office on 03 9134 8200 and pressing 1 to report student absence; or
• Reporting student absence on Compass

Here are some helpful guides to reporting student absence on Compass:

Absence Reasons

It is vital that families report the reason for their child's absence in each instance. This data is collated and analysed by the College, and is also collected by the Victorian Department of Education. 

In Term 1, 2023 alone, between 50-70% of absences each week were unapproved. This means that no reason was provided to the College, either by phone or via Compass, from families for why students were away from school. 

Improving Student Attendance

The DE provides some helpful tips for supporting your child's attendance at school, but please feel free to reach out to the relevant sub-school leadership team if you need any support or advice to help your child attend school.

Some of the DE's advice includes to:

• Talk to your child about school and how important it is. You can ask them how they feel about school, what they liked and if there are any problems.
• Reward good behaviour and not bad behaviour. For example, if your child refuses to go to school, do not let them have access to their phones or the internet.
• Set a good example. Show them how you keep to your own commitments.
• Encourage your child to take on hobbies that your child enjoys such as sports and clubs. This will help them develop positive relationships outside of the classroom.
• Have a set time to do homework and go to bed.
• Leave all technology out of their bedroom.
• Pack their school bag the night before with everything they need.
• Have a set time for breakfast.
• Plan to meet up with a friend so they can travel to school together.

As always, please contact the College if you have any questions or queries.

Kind regards,

Anthony Asta

Acting Assistant Principal - School Operations

Further Information

• Attendance and Missing School, Vic.gov.au: https://www.vic.gov.au/attendance-and-missing-school
• Attendance Matters (Spotlight), AITSL: https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/research-evidence/spotlight/attendance-matters.pdf
• Attendance Policy, Edgars Creek Secondary College: https://www.edgarscreeksc.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ECSC-ATTENDANCE-REQUIREMENTS.pdf