Important Information

School attendance

Regular attendance at school is essential if students are to maximise their potential. Research confirms a strong link between attendance and student educational outcomes. While some student absences are unavoidable and understandable due to illness, family commitments and medical appointments; many are not. Incidental absences of ‘having a day off’ now and then, can lead to an accumulation of days away from learning and social activities at school. There is much research suggesting poor school attendance can be an early warning sign for future adverse outcomes.

Here at McCarthy, our focus is on embracing Living Well, Learning Well in all we do. All families were given a copy of this important Docesan document upon enrolling at the College. The focus of Living Well, Learning Well is to  build protective factors in our school environment which then leads to better student outcomes including each student maintaining a high level of attendance at school. Some of the protective factors are:

• To feel safe, respected and valued,
• To feel a sense of self worth,
• To recognise that there is a purpose to going to school and 
• To be part of the school community

Why attendance matters:

When your child misses school they miss important opportunities to:

Learn

Make friends 

Build skills through fun

Days missed = years lost

A day here and there doesn’t seem like much, but: