Wellbeing and Inclusion Update

High Expectations – Every Day Counts at ARPS

At Athol Road Primary School, High Expectations is one of our RICH values. We believe that every child can achieve success, and one of the most important ways to support this is by ensuring they attend school every day.

Going to school each day is the single most important part of your child’s education. Students learn new things every day, and missing school puts them behind. The building blocks for a great education begin with consistent attendance. When students miss school regularly, they miss out on developing the fundamental skills in reading, writing and numeracy that set them up for success in later years. They also miss valuable opportunities to strengthen friendships, practise social skills and feel connected to their learning community.

There is no safe number of days for missing school, each day matters. Research shows that each missed day is associated with progressively lower achievement. Every day counts.

The main reasons for absence are:

Sickness – There will always be times when students need to stay home because they are genuinely unwell. Good sleep routines, regular exercise and healthy eating can make a big difference to a child’s overall health and wellbeing, helping them attend school consistently.

Family Holidays – We encourage families to plan holidays during school holiday periods wherever possible. Avoiding term-time holidays supports continuity of learning.

‘Day Off’ – It can be tempting to allow an occasional day off, but even one day can mean missed learning that is difficult to replace.

At ARPS, our learning begins promptly at 9:00am. Music plays at 8:50am, and by 9:00am students should be settled in their learning spaces, ready to learn. Arriving even a few minutes late can lead to an unsettled start and may disrupt learning for others. As demonstrated in the table below, just a few minutes each day quickly adds up to significant lost learning time across a week, term and year.

High expectations also extend to how we prepare our children for learning each day. A healthy, balanced lunchbox helps students concentrate, regulate their energy levels and stay focused. We encourage families to include fruit or vegetables each day and to support our commitment as a NUDE Food School by minimising packaging wherever possible. Small changes in lunchboxes make a big difference, for both student wellbeing and our environment.

We value strong home and school partnerships and are here to support you. If you require assistance with attendance or would like to discuss any concerns, please contact the school on 9547 1224.

Together, by maintaining high expectations and ensuring every day counts, we can give our students the best possible foundation for success.

Connected, supported, thriving. 

Rachel Gathercole

Assistant Principal – Wellbeing and Inclusion