Welcome back to all our students and families. We value your continued support in achieving 100% attendance for your child/children – Every Day and Minute Counts!

How We Communicate Absences

College absence communications are automated to best support parents/carers to meet their requirements under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 to promptly report absences.

At 10am an absent text message is sent to parents/carers for students marked ABSENT from Form Assembly or Period 1 or both periods.
At 3pm an absent text message is sent to parents/carers for students marked ABSENT all day.
Every Monday Unexplained absent emails are automatically generated from Compass to parents/carers based on teacher roll marking. Please check the attached emailed letter carefully for specific unexplained dates and classes.

To report absences or lateness to school, please follow one of the options to explain absences and/or request attendance & engagement support.

Login to the Compass APP or parent portal at https://craigieburnsc-vic.compass.education/ Enter reason/Timeframe/Reason for the absence/Estimated return date
Email: attendance@craigieburnsc.vic.edu.au subject line: Student Name/Year Level/Reason/Estimated Return Date
Phone: Absence Line on 9308 1144 and follow the prompts to leave a voicemail with Student Name/Year Level/Reason/Estimated Return Date
Email Form Teachers (Yr 7-10s) and Year Level Coordinators (Yr 11-12s) via Compass for Attendance Participation or Engagement Support
If possible, email or provide Medical/Dental/Specialist Certificates on return to school (VCAA requirement for missed SACs)
Families are reminded to update your family contact details as they change to receive college attendance notifications and general information.

The college prides itself on keeping attendance records as accurate and as up to date as possible, however, at times explained absences may not be updated prior to absence communications. Attendance records are uploaded daily to the Department of Education and Training CASES21 system in support of accountability and bench marking requirements. Students experiencing difficulties returning to school or engaging in the face-to-face learning will not be penalised on parent/carer contact and immediate supports will be provided.

Every Day Counts - It's Never Too Late to Improve Attendance - We thank you!

At Craigieburn Secondary College attendance and engagement takes high priority and is highly supported by Education Support & Sub-school staff, Teachers and by our multi-disciplinary health care teams. We encourage all families to contact the College to promptly explain these absences so as the College can best support your family and your child/ren during these challenging times.

How We Communicate Attendance

The college Attendance Policy (2022 reviewed) can be found on the college policy webpage and is developed to support each family to assist their child/ren where possible achieve the DET recommended 90% attendance rate to be achieving across of realms of school.

Parents/carers may be communicated via Compass chronicle emails if an absence is deemed by the college as:

Explained – Parent/carer contact received, cited or via a staff member to explain a student’s absence from school.
Unexplained Absences – these are absences where no reasons have been provided.
Absence Amended – medical certificate, specialist certification has been provided and attendance records have been updated and DET/VCE compliant and approved.
Explained Absence Received – an acknowledgement email of a reported absence has been received and attendance records adjusted accordingly.
Extended Absence Learning Plan – to support continued learning due to consecutive absence days, family holidays, suspension, study leave or covid-related isolation requirements.
Confirmed Truancy – to inform parents/carers if a student is deemed truant or out of class without permission.

The college wishes to ensure that all parent/carers have a clear understanding of how they can meet their legal obligations under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006. We encourage to you visit the Department of Education and Training (DET) “Attendance and missing school” information for parents/carers to best understand attendance matters. Severe weather days are compulsory school days; unless the DET announces school closures, count towards absent days. School event days are compulsory school days and count towards student absent days if a parent/carer chose to not consent to such events or send students to school on severe weather days.

School focus on Late to Form, School, and Class

We know lateness can be explained and approved with reasonable excuses provided by a parent/carer or staff member; however, school data indicates lateness can lead to chronic truancy and disengagement from learning. In 2024 parents/carers/students will now be communicated based on teacher roll marking when a student arrives late to class unexplained/unapproved via Compass chronicle emails and a demerit will be recorded. Late to form and school chronicles and demerits will continue in 2024. Demerits provide year level office teams with the information to action the college staged response to manage lateness; and to provide supports and early intervention for lateness to school, form, and class . If a lateness is explained by a staff member or with a reasonable excuse by a parent/carer then demerits can be removed, and attendance records can be updated accordingly.

Department of Education and Training ‘2 Hour’ Rule to be considered Present at school

The Department have introduced a new ‘2 hour’ rule whereby a student needs to be considered ‘Present’ or ‘late’ in class for at least two hours prior to 12pm to be considered ‘Present’ for the AM period attendance coding, and two hours after 12pm to be considered ‘Present’ for the PM period attendance coding.

Important to note: This means when a student is marked absent (unexplained) or truant: out of class without permission for 1 or more periods or a parent/carer explains an absent or a student arrives or departs school early then this period of absence is calculated under the new ‘2 Hour’ rule and counts towards total absent days for the term or year.

Parents/carers can see their child’s Term Summary (Days Not Present) totals via your Compass portal Attendance pages. Attendance colour coding helps staff, students, parents/carers understand attendance/absence records: Red – unexplained; Orange – explained (approved or unapproved); Blue – School Approved; Yellow – Late (explained or unexplained); or Green – Present. See the example attendance ‘Annual Summary’ and ‘Term Summary (Days Not Present)’.

“You and your child are an important part of your school’s community. Every day of attending school counts. Being at school supports your child’s learning, social and mental wellbeing.” (DET, 2022).

Attendance Communication Summary

If no communication is received to the college, an unexplained absence will be recorded and attendance notifications sent.
Unexplained absences will initiate an Unexplained Absence weekly email for families to provide a valid reason for absence.
Continued Unexplained Absences will initiate the school Absence Unexplained Staged Response chronicle emails generated by Compass and parent/carer phone contact.
Explained absences regardless of if the absence is deemed to be a reasonable or unreasonable reason for absence will initiate an Explained Absence acknowledgement chronicle email generated by Compass informing absence is explained and recorded.
Confirmed Truancy emails sent daily if your child is deemed to be confirmed truant out of class without permission; we encourage you to check Compass attendance records to review this decision &/or contact a sub-school team member to discuss the truancy & required supports.
An Attendance Multi-tiered System approach has been introduced to communicate to families when students’ attendance rate reaches less than 90% or their attendance is of concern. Compass auto-generated tier level 1-3 emails are designed to be informative; encouraging families/students to engage with the sub-school who can provide help, but most importantly, to build positive family partnerships around how to improve a student’s, academics, attendance, engagement, and social and emotional journey at school.
We reward high attendance and engagement by issuing Merits, Distinctions and acknowledging our students at the college Award Ceremonies twice a year.

We would like our families to feel supported through this process, and as such the attendance communication and reminders are designed for you to gain full understanding of the circumstances behind absenteeism. This provides the basis for the college and families to work together to improve student attendance.

Supporting Students with Attendance of Concern

All absences from school and truancy (out of class) count towards absent days and impacts students’ attendance rates, and more importantly educational and social outcomes greatly. It is vital for families to understand that the DET has a 90% attendance requirement, evidenced for your child to be achieving their full potential academically, socially, and emotionally. Hence regardless of the type of absence (approved – reasonable or unapproved – unreasonable); when a student’s attendance rate reaches less than 90%, the student is considered with attendance of concern.

At this point, the college will introduce attendance interventions that may include:

Compass chronicle emails related to attendance
Phone or email contact
Regular monitoring of attendance and student’s academic progress
Emailing teachers for student progress and work completion
Student and school engagement profile and surveys
Student support group meetings & plan
Return to school planning & individual learning planning
Modified timetable and extended absence learning planning
Referrals to the college Allied Health Team &/or referrals to external service providers and government departments
and importantly, whatever it takes to keep your child engaged in learning and continue being part of the college learning community.
Chronic absenteeism may be referred to the DET School Attendance Officer and other government departments for further investigation into understanding the students absenteeism and for further supports.

Family holidays within the school term are unapproved unless pre-approved by your child/children’s sub-school and an extended absence learning plan has been pre-arranged to support your child’s/children’s continued learning accessible via Compass lesson plans, resources, learning tasks and teacher email; please contact your child’s form teacher (Year 7-10s) or year level coordinator (Yr 11-12) to request this learning support.

Every day counts when it comes to getting the best educational and social emotional outcomes for your child/children!

At Craigieburn Secondary College attendance and engagement takes high priority and is highly supported by Education Support & Year Level teams, teachers and by multi-disciplinary health and well-being care teams. We encourage all families to contact the college if you know of an absence or extended absence leave in advance or to promptly explain absences, including lateness to school so as the college can best support your family and your child/children, or you may not be meeting your requirements under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006. Students experiencing difficulties returning to school or engaging in the face-to-face learning will not be penalised on parent/carer contact and immediate supports will be provided.

Visit Coronavirus for parent/carers and covid positive/contact and isolations requirements. Please report covid cases as soon as practical. Students who can continue learning from home may do so via Compass lessons, resources, learning tasks and email and will be coded as ‘Medical/Illness’ - DET/VCE Compliant and approved for the following COVID-19 related reasons:

Student has a medical vulnerability, and their GP has advised that they should learn from home.
Student is in isolation and learning remotely if well enough to do so.
Student is unable to return from interstate or overseas due to COVID and the school is supporting them to learn remotely.

The college is doing its best to keep attendance records as accurate and as up to date as possible. Attendance records are uploaded daily to the Department of Education and Training. If you have any questions about the attendance communications and coding, please contact Andrea Brislin – Attendance Officer or Year Level staff for student engagement and learning supports on 9308 1144 or email attendance at attendance@craigieburnsc.vic.edu.au and visit the college Attendance Matters webpage for more information. We are here to help and Welcome Back Once Again!

We aim for KINDNESS and A LOVE OF LEARNING, CURIOSITY and HUMOUR with RESPECT, BELONGING, GROWTH and UNDERSTANDING in our CSC Learning Community!

Craigieburn Secondary College Newsletter

Belonging | Understanding | Respect | Growth

Issue 1 · 04 Mar 2024

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