Attendance

Attendance - Every Day Counts

Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education. Students learn new things at school every day, missing school puts them behind.

We want all students to have a great education, and the building blocks for a great education begin with students coming to school each and every day. If students miss school regularly, they miss out on learning the fundamental skills that will set them up for success in the later years of school.

There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind, and can affect their educational outcomes. Each missed day is associated with progressively lower achievement in numeracy, writing and reading as well as missed opportunities to develop social skills and build solid peer relationships. 

The main reasons for absence are:

Sickness – There are always times when students need to miss school, such as when they’re unwell. It’s vital that students are only away on the days they are genuinely sick. Having good sleep patterns, eating well and exercising regularly can make a big difference to a student’s overall health and wellbeing. 

Family Holiday - It's important that holidays are planned during school holidays where possible, and not during the term if it can be avoided. 

Day off – Think twice before letting your child have a ‘day off’ as they could fall behind their classmates – every day counts.

At Athol Road Primary School, our day of learning starts promptly at 9am. The music begins at 8.50am and by 9am, students should be settled in their learning spaces, ready to tackle the days learning. Arriving even a few minutes late can result in an unsettled start to the day for that student and may disrupt the learning for the rest of the students. As the table below demonstrates, a few minutes each day can add up to quite a significant period of missed learning over a week, a term, a year and their school life. 

Please contact the school on 9547 1224 if we can be of assistance with attendance. We value our home and school partnerships and we are here to support you and your child/ren.