Principal's Address

Boorowa Anzac Day ceremony in town and school

It was with great pride that I had the opportunity to march with Boorowa Central School in the Anzac Day ceremonies on 25 April for the 6th time and 4th time as Principal. 70 students and 15 staff chose to represent the school, Army Cadets, or the Drumming band by marching in full uniform along Marsden Street to the Anzac memorial. Here, the students demonstrated respect by standing solemnly as they listened to the formal proceedings and participated in the one-minute silence. Whilst I am extremely proud of our students, I would like to acknowledge the excellent behaviour of all Boorowa students representing their schools in the march and ceremony. As a community, I am sure you are all immensely proud, as I am, of the young people involved on Anzac Day.

A special mention goes to School Captains Stephanie Piper and Imogen Pye for their speeches which they delivered as the prologue to the ceremony. Both young leaders of our school spoke passionately about what Anzac Day means to them and highlighted their family connections to past wars and present service. Veronica Bromham, ex-student of Boorowa Central School and current student at Hennessy Catholic College also spoke on this topic and did a fabulous job.

The very next day and first day of school, our school also held its own Anzac Day ceremony. This was another opportunity to see our students recognising the significance of a formal ceremony and participating with respect to the occasion. A special thank you is extended to the Army Cadets, the Drumming band and to Boorowa Sub-branch President and Vice-President Alan Banks and Dean Franklin for attending the ceremony and adding to its significance.

Attendance – Term 1

I analysed our Term 1 attendance data in the holidays to determine how we are tracking as a school compared to last year.

In Term 1, 36% of students attended school 90% of the time or more, 38% of students had an attendance rate between 80 and 90% and 25% of students attended school less than 80%. This contributes to our school wide attendance percentage being 82.1%.

If we look at this data a different way, 63% (almost 2 thirds) of students in Term 1 had at least one day absent from school each fortnight. If this were to continue for the year, this would mean that these same students will miss a minimum of 20 school days this year which equates to four school weeks. 

Absenteeism can have a significant impact on student learning and contributes to feelings of anxiety, lack of belonging and confusion. These outcomes are not desirable and are avoidable. Boorowa Central School’s vision includes preparing students with ‘the skills to succeed in a changing world’ which we can achieve when students attend school regularly. Please help the school support your children by sending them every school day.

If there are any barriers to regular attendance, I am happy to arrange a meeting to develop a support plan for your family.

Reminder: If your child is absent from school, you must notify the school with the reason for this absence. In Term 1, 54% of absences were ‘unexplained’.

Mr Graham Jones - Principal