Wellbeing

Attendance - Every Day Counts

Going to school every day, where a child is well enough to do so, is the single most important part of your child’s education. Students learn new things at school every day. When you consider curriculum days, public holidays, etc., each primary school year is normally a little under 200 days. Attending and participating in school will help your child develop:

• important skills and knowledge to help them learn
• social and emotional skills such as good communication, resilience and teamwork.

Research shows that children who attend school every day and complete Year 12 have:

• better health
• better job opportunities
• higher income across their lives.

There are no safe number of days for missing school. Each day a student misses puts them behind. Students with irregular and low attendance often find that their academic achievement and the value they receive from their education are greatly reduced as a result. Sometimes this creates a cycle of disconnectedness leading to more absenteeism and a further lowering of achievement.

Let the school know as soon as possible and explain why your child can’t come to school - either by phone call to the office or via Sentral our app. Please let your child's teacher know if it is likely to be an extended absence, such as a hospital stay or Sorry Business. 

Research has shown that once it was the case that students only missed school when they were genuinely ill, but unfortunately this has changed. Students are being allowed to stay away for absences such as birthdays, relatives/friends who are visiting, to be with parents and even to go shopping. A sobering fact is that the average student will lose one year of education (200 days) through parent-condoned absences over their school career from Prep to Year 12. We need your support to ensure your child attends regularly.

Impacts of student absences can:

• make it difficult to catch up on missed work,
• create gaps in a student’s knowledge
• make it difficult for teachers to monitor student progress and achievement.
• cause students to lose touch with their friendship group which is closely connected to their wellbeing and social development.

Please make every effort to get your child/ren to school every day. If there are issues to do with your son/daughter’s attendance that you think we should be aware of please don’t hesitate to contact us, we will develop plans to support you and them to improve their attendance. Our Student Attendance Policy (2021) can be found on our School's website under 'Policies' and here.

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