Attendance

St Bede’s College Attendance Statement

In partnership with parents, St Bede’s College is committed to developing and preparing our young men for life beyond the classroom. All classes and school activities work together in providing a holistic education. School attendance and punctuality are crucial preconditions for maximising learning opportunities and performance; education is a sequential process and unnecessary or frivolous absences often means students miss important stages in the development of topics.

All enrolled students are required to attend school unless reasonable and valid grounds exist for them to be absent. This document aims to clarify those grounds and to clearly outline the role of each participant (Parent, Student, School) in ensuring attendance expectations are met.  

Parental Responsibilities

• Ensure your son attends school regularly
• Inform the school by phone on the morning of the absence (prior to 8.50am) with the reason for the absence (e.g. illness, bereavement). The absence is then confirmed in writing by a parental note upon your son’s return to school. Independent students, not living with a parent or guardian are also required to provide a note
• Where possible notify the school in advance of any absence
• Arrange medical appointments for out of school hours where possible
• Arrange family holidays during the official school holiday periods
• Ensure that part time jobs, driving lessons and licence tests occur out of school hours
• Do not allow your son to miss school to attend other activities such as external sporting events or purchasing tickets to a concert

Student Responsibilities

• Arrive at school before 8.40am  and attend all classes, school assemblies and activities unless circumstances exist for an approved absence
• Be proactive in catching up on work missed due to absence

School Responsibilities

• Mark attendance rolls each period of the day
• Promptly inform parents/carers of student absences
• Ensure parents are fully informed of the processes used by the school to follow up student absences
• Maintain records of student attendance – which will appear with semester reports
• Support students in their endeavours to catch up on work missed due to unavoidable absence
• Arrange a formal attendance conference with parents where ongoing unexplained absences or unresolved attendance issues occur

Support

Whilst every effort will be made to supply a student inconvenienced by a long term absence with school work, in some cases the nature of the topic being covered may mean not all activities will be possible to complete at home. Contact with teachers via email will provide the most effective line of communication with the school.

Student absent during Exams and Assessment Tasks.

Any student missing an exam or assessment task due to illness or injury should provide the College with a medical certificate on his return to school. Should the circumstances and duration of the absence be deemed as reasonable the student will be permitted to sit for the Assessment at a time specified by the College.

Families that choose to take holidays during exam times should be aware that no special provision will be made for students to sit exams outside the scheduled exam period. Under no circumstances will a family holiday be a reason for boys to be provided with an opportunity of sitting exams or tests before the scheduled time.