Attendance Policy
It’s not OK to be away
When kids miss school, not only is their academic progress impeded, forcing them to catch up on missed work (which some never do), they often miss important interactions with their peers which can compound issues of social isolation and low self-esteem.
One of the most important things you can do to ensure your child has a bright future is to make sure he or she goes to school every day—and gets there on time. It sounds simple, but it’s true. The correlation between school attendance and children’s achievement levels is well-established. The more time kids spend at school, the more likely they are to experience school success. Conversely, according to a report from the Victorian Auditor General, students who are regularly absent from school are at the greatest risk of dropping out of school early, and of experiencing long-term unemployment.
Of course, most people know this intuitively, yet school absenteeism is a huge problem in Australian schools—and much of it is parent-condoned. It’s hard to get an accurate picture across the country but it would appear that Australian students miss an average of between 12 and 15 days per school year, with parent-condoned absenteeism highest among young primary-aged children. That adds up to a year’s lost schooling over the school-life of a child. In today’s highly competitive world, this rate of absenteeism is alarming, putting our kids at a distinct disadvantage.
The time is right to focus on improved attendance rates at Numurkah Primary School. Last year on average each student was absent for 15 days. This means that on average each student will miss 105 days of school during their time at our school. Let's work together to improve this!
Poor patterns of attendance place students at risk of not achieving their educational, social and future potential as adults. Once learners have begun to absent themselves from pre-school or school, and the initial cause of this remains undetected or unresolved, it is likely that the pattern of absence will continue and escalate through their subsequent schooling and adulthood.
Please remember that if you are experiencing difficulty in having your child attend school, discuss the matter with your child’s teacher or contact Ms Oliver or Mr Lelliott.