Attendance – Really Matters

Dear Families and Friends,

Welcome to 2021 school year. It has been such a joy to chat with our families and friends these past weeks and exchange tales of our holiday happenings. With our complete return to onsite learning and the start of a fresh new school year we have a real opportunity to keep up good habits around attendance.

Improving student attendance is a significant focus for our school in 2021. Improved student attendance is the foundation for improved learning and wellbeing outcomes and will have a significant impact on our ability to achieve the Department’s three priorities; supporting student learning through the Tutor Learning Initiative, ensuring students are happy, active and healthy and developing stronger relationships with families and their communities.

Research tells us that a child missing one day a fortnight will miss four weeks of school in a year, and more than a year of school by the time they reach Year 10. A student who is absent 30 or more days in a year is considered chronically absent. In response to these facts we are closely monitoring our Attendance rolls/data and working towards identifying students who are at risk of chronic absences early. We know that early identification will put us in the best position possible to put in place interventions and work with families and caregivers to prevent students from following the path towards chronic absence.

We are committed to working together with our families/carers to ensure our students are coming to school EVERY DAY and having a positive experience in the classroom and out in the playground. In the coming days and weeks we will be reaching out to the families of students who are experiencing challenges in terms of getting their child/ children to school, seeking to understand their individual stories/circumstances and then working towards a positive outcome that sees the child/children attending school EVERY day.

Attendance and engagement for all our students is our top priority, as we know that attendance is the critical ingredient to improving student outcomes and achieving our school’s mission of High Levels of Learning For All.

‘80% of success is SHOWING UP’.

Warmest Regards,

Kathy Cvitkovic

Assistant Principal

Literacy Report