Wellbeing

Attendance

At St Joseph’s, we believe that consistent attendance is one of the single biggest factors in a student's success. Not just academically, but socially and emotionally too. Every day in the classroom is a chance to learn something new, connect with friends, and build the routines that help kids thrive.

Research consistently shows that students who attend school regularly:

Perform better academically and build stronger foundational skills, since missed lessons are hard to fully make up
Develop stronger social connections and a greater sense of belonging with their peers and teachers
Build habits of consistency and responsibility that serve them well beyond school
Experience smoother transitions through each school year, without the stress of "catching up"

Even missing just one day every couple of weeks adds up to a significant amount of lost learning time over the course of a year.

We're Moving in the Right Direction!

We're proud to share that our school-wide attendance has been improving, and we want to say a huge thank you to all our families for helping make that happen.

Our attendance data demonstrates positive growth across 2026. The proportion of students achieving 91–100% attendance increased from 72.3% in Term 1 to 76.0% in Term 3, representing an increase of 19 students. At the same time, the number of students below 80% attendance reduced from 57 students in Term 1 to 43 students in Term 3. This represents a reduction of 14 students and indicates positive progress in improving regular school attendance.

This progress reflects real effort from our students and families, and we're excited to keep building on it together.

A Friendly Reminder About Term-Time Absences

We completely understand that life happens — students get sick, and families sometimes need to travel during term time, including for holidays. We're not asking families never to take time away; we simply want to work together to minimise the impact on learning.

If your family is planning a holiday during the term, we kindly ask that, where possible, you schedule it at the very beginning or end of term, rather than in the middle. This helps because:

It reduces the number of consecutive school days missed in the heart of a unit of learning
Teachers are often introducing new topics mid-term, which can be harder to catch up on than review or wrap-up periods
Students can stay better connected with their classmates and classroom routines

We appreciate your partnership in helping every student get the most out of their time at school.

Attendance is a team effort between school and home, and we couldn't do it without you. If you ever have questions about your child's attendance, or need support getting them to school regularly, please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly.