Student Attendance

ATTENDANCE DOES MATTER

Every day counts. Attending school every day means experiencing what counts – the learning, friendship, fun and opportunities that can shape your child’s future.

Why going to school is important

Going to school every day is an important part of your child’s education. Children and young people learn new things at school every day, connect with friends, have fun and develop good habits that help them to succeed. Attending and participating in school will help your child:

develop important skills and knowledge to help them learn
develop social and emotional skills such as good communication, resilience and team-work
establish friendships with peers which help develop self-esteem and a sense of belonging.

There is no good number of days for missing school. Being away from school for 1 day a fortnight adds up to missing 4 whole weeks of school a year. Where possible, you should avoid your child missing school, for example, make appointments for your child outside of school hours and keep family holidays to outside term time.

Missing one day per fortnight adds up to missing four weeks of school a year.

If your child misses a lot of school

If your child has frequent unexplained absences then their school will work with you to implement appropriate supports to assist your child and ensure they attend school every day and remain at school during school hours.

If the supports do not improve your child’s attendance, your school might make a referral to a school attendance officer at the Department of Education. The school attendance officer will monitor and investigate your child’s attendance, and may issue an attendance notice, an official warning or a fine.

The fine for not attending school is currently $102. This amount is half a penalty unit, and the monetary value of a penalty unit changes each financial year.

What to do if your child can’t go to school

As a parent/carer, you are legally required to ensure your child attends school every day, and if your child is absent you must provide an explanation.

Schools acknowledge and understand that parents and carers may be juggling various challenges to get their children to school every day. If your child must miss school for any reason, notify the school as soon as possible so we can work together to ensure your child is supported.

Openly communicating about all absences is important. If you’re having attendance challenges with your child or if your child needs to take an extended period of time off, please let the college know as soon as possible. There are things you and the school can do together to ensure your child is supported to attend or can stay up to date with their learning and engagement while away.

Notifying the school of your child’s absence

Schools need to know when and why a student is absent, so you must let the school know on the day of the absence and explain why your child can’t come to school. Please ensure your contact details are up to date so the school can follow up on absences as required. They may also call your emergency contacts.

Your child’s school will keep a record of the reason provided for each absence. This will be marked under a category such as medical/illness, bereavement, truancy, family holiday and religious or cultural observance. As parents/carers there may be additional reasons. to those listed above, you choose to keep your child at home - these are recorded as Parent Choice. As a parent you are able to enter your child’s absence directly onto COMPASS.

Medical appointments

Make medical appointments for before or after school or during the school holidays. If this is not possible, tell your child’s school before the appointment that they will not be at school during that time, and where possible provide a medical certificate.

Family holidays

Take holidays during school holidays and not during term time. Any holidays planned for during school time must be discussed with your child’s school in advance. The school may decide to give your child work to do so they can remain engaged with their learning while away

Wellbeing days

Try to avoid letting your child stay home for a “wellbeing day”. Although it may feel that staying home will provide short-term relief for your child, absence from school can lead to disconnection from classmates and teachers, as well as missed learning opportunities, making it harder to return in the long run.

Tips to help improve your child’s attendance

Setting up good attendance patterns and addressing attendance issues promptly can lead to future success and help your child feel more engaged and connected at school.

Here are some ideas which may assist you in supporting your child to attend school:

Talk to your child about school and the importance of attending every day. You can ask them how they feel about school, what interests them or if they are having any difficulties. Some problems to look out for include:
- Bullying or cyberbullying
- Feeling isolated at school
- Disliking or feeling disconnected from the school culture or environment
- Falling behind in school work or feeling overwhelmed about keeping up
- Disliking school subjects, choice of subjects, or not feeling challenged by the work
- Finding relationships with teachers or other students at school difficult
- Competing demands on time, such as extracurricular activities
- Not feeling understood and fully accepted by peers or teachers

Encourage and celebrate good attendance habits with your child, including arriving at school on time every day.
Set a good example. Show them how you keep to your own commitments.
Help your child maintain daily routines such as finishing homework and getting a good night’s sleep.
Help them pack their school bag the night before with everything they need.
Have a set time for breakfast.
Plan for your child to meet with a friend so they can travel to school together.

Remember, every day counts. Act early if you are concerned about your child’s attendance and contact their school to discuss how you can work together to support positive attendance.