Attendance Matters

Education for your child is important and regular attendance at school is essential for your child to achieve their educational best and increase their career and life options. NSW public schools work in partnership with parents to encourage and support regular attendance of children and young people. When your child attends school every day, learning becomes easier and your child will build and maintain friendships with other children.

The importance of arriving on time 

Arriving at school and class on time: 

~ Ensures that students do not miss out on important learning activities scheduled early in the day

~ Helps students learn the importance of punctuality and routine 

~ Give students time to greet their friends before class 

~ Reduces classroom disruption 

Lateness is recorded as a partial absence and must be explained by parents. Please do not drop your child at the gate and ask them to go to the Office on their own. Parents need to accompany their child to the Office to explain their lateness.

What if my child has to be away from school?

Parents of children from Kindergarten to Year 12 must ensure their children attend school every day. On occasion, your child may need to be absent from school. Justified reasons for student absences may include:

• being sick or having an infectious disease
• having an unavoidable medical appointment
• being required to attend a recognised religious holiday
• exceptional or urgent family circumstances e.g. attending a funeral.

Parents must provide an explanation for absences to the school within 7 days from the first day of any period of absence. Where an explanation has not been received within the 7-day timeframe, the school will record the absence as unexplained on the student's record. 

With the addition of our SMS notification on the day of your child's absence, you can inform the school of the reason for absence on that day, through the Sentral Parent Portal.