Attendance

Arriving to school on time

There are many benefits for your child if they are consistently arriving at school on time. Not only do they develop strong habits but they are likely to succeed in their learning too. It is very important to instil this habit from a very young age, at the start of each term and over the school year.

Your child is arriving at school on time when they arrive between 8.45am and 8.50am.

What are the benefits?

They are informed of important information – a typical school day starts with announcements and introductions to new lessons, so students who show up late may miss out on important details and be unprepared for class events or key learning ideas
They often miss out on key learning opportunities like Reading and Numeracy, or they may miss out on a lesson with their specialist teacher
Develop long-term positive habits. They develop the habit of being punctual with important commitments
Self-esteem - arriving on time every day makes children feel good about themselves
Disrupting the other children can cause embarrassment and can make a child feel uncomfortable
Gives your child an opportunity to greet their friends before the lessons start

What can you do?

Regular routines are important, and with the right strategies in place a child can succeed in getting to school on time, every day.

Let them help in getting their clothing, lunchbox or bag ready the night before
Ensure all their homework tasks are up to date and they are able to hand it in on time
Make sure they are getting enough sleep so they are able to get up in the morning on time
Have a set wake up time
Set a time for when breakfast should start and end, and keep to it
Limit screen time, TV time or games time
Be firm, let your child know the school expectations and values
Give positive encouragement when they are following the plan and getting ready to be at school on time
Encourage them to catch up with friends before school so they can walk into the class together
Once they have settled at school, leave quickly

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arriving on time

Being on time to school means that children can be part of the morning routine. This includes teacher and peer welcomes and greetings. Morning greetings help students feel connected to the school and add a sense of belonging. It ensures that your child doesn't miss out on the important learning activities that happen early in the day when they are most alert. Being late often means missing out on important information about the day and opportunities to learn.

Leaving early

Where possible if parents and guardians could you please book appointments for 3:00 pm onwards. Otherwise, please ensure that children return to school once the appointment is finished. Please remember that on Friday afternoons we have our whole school assembly, so if you need to collect your child/ren early please do so before 2:45pm as it is hard to collect student during assembly.

Attendance

Notifying the school of your child’s absence either prior to, or on the day that they will be away, helps ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and will fulfil your legal responsibility. Monitoring any absences is the responsibility of both parents/carers and schools. Please remember to log your child’s absence using Compass or by calling the school on 9363 3519, selecting option 1 and leaving your child's full name, grade and reason for absence. Save this number!

For a guide on entering a Compass absence, follow the link below: https://www.compass.education/guide#section-attendance

You will receive a text message at 9:30am if your child is not at school and you haven’t notified the school as to why. If you are notified by the school that your child is away without a reason, please contact us as soon as possible via Compass or by calling the number above. If we cannot reach you because we don’t have your correct contact details (disconnected number or incorrect email address), then we will contact any emergency contact/s nominated on your child’s file held by the school on the same day of the unexplained absence.

Please ensure we have current up to date contact details to assist us in calling you for absences, emergencies, or any notifications necessary. You can request a change of detail form from our office at any time.

Please remember it is your responsibility to contact us to provide an explanation for your child's absence from school, and where possible, please inform us in advance of upcoming absences