From the Principal

Attendance Matters

Every day a child misses school it impacts their learning. Children 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, or 20 days of school a year. Being away from school 1 day a week adds up to 8 whole weeks of learning,  or 40 days which equates to just under a term!! 

At LEPS we understand that there are times when children are sick and they definitely should stay at home until they are well enough to return to school. However, we also know that some children have days off to pick up a relative from the airport or because it is their birthday or they are tired because they went to bed too late. The biggest impact on attendance at LEPS is extended family holidays overseas.

The attendance target at Victorian schools is 95%. This equates to approximately 10 days for the whole year. Of the 238 children who attended LEPS in 2025:

• 54 children achieved 95 -100% attendance (up to 10 days absence)

• 61 children achieved 90 - 95% attendance (up to 20 days absence)

• 73 children achieved 80 - 90% attendance (up to 40 days absence)

• 27 children achieved 70 - 80% attendance (up to 60 days absence)

• 23 children attended school less than 70% of the time (more than 60 days absence).

It is no wonder our academic data suffers when children are having this many days off. Teachers can only teach children who are at 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. Ask yourself: 

• How many days did my child miss school in 2025?  

• How many days they did they miss in term 1 of 2026?

• What can I do to improve my child's attendance?

In 2026 we will be targeting student attendance. We need to reduce the number of days children are absent if we are to improve academic results. Each term we will be celebrating the children who achieve our 95% target with some special activities. On Monday 11 May we will be hosting a special morning tea for the children who achieved the 95% or higher attendance. 

There were 44 days of learning in term 1 this year:

• 12 children achieved a 100% attendance

• 56 children achieved 95% or higher attendance. 

These 68 children will be the first ones to attend a special morning tea for 2026! YEAH!

We will be giving a bonus Focus on the Good point to children every day they are at school. If they attend school every day of the school year they will be able to earn an extra 190+ points to spend on a reward  of their choice! Sounds pretty good to me!

You can do this by:

• bringing your child to school every day even if they are late. We would prefer late than not at all. Half a day of learning is better than no learning.

• making appointments for your child outside of school hours

• keeping family holidays to holiday time not term time.

   

If your child missed the attendance target (less than 2.2 days absence) for term 1, then help them to reach the target in term 2 by making sure they are at school every day they are healthy enough to be here!

LINDA RICHARDS

Principal