Student Wellbeing

Attendance and missing school

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.

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 you can work together to ensure your child is supported. Each school will have a preferred way to do this. It may be by phone, email or via an app.

Openly communicating with your child's school 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 their classroom teacher 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.