Attendance Policy
Rationale:
The Education Act 1958 requires that children of school age (six-fifteen years) resident in Victoria are required to be in full-time attendance at a government or registered non-government school unless they are receiving approved home tuition, correspondence education, or have been granted an exemption by the Regional Director.
Aims:
To maximise student learning opportunities and performance by ensuring that children required to attend school do so regularly, and without unnecessary or frivolous absences.
Implementation:
Education is a sequential process. Absences often mean students miss important stages in the development of topics, causing them to find ‘catching up’ difficult.
Absenteeism contributes significantly to student failure at school.
All enrolled students are required to attend school unless reasonable and valid grounds exist for them to be absent.
Illness is reasonable grounds for an absence, shopping excursions or birthday parties are not.
Parents have a responsibility to ensure that their children attend school regularly, and are only absent if ill or if absolutely necessary.
Parents have a further responsibility to provide a written note or return a completed absence form (See Form 1 below) to the school explaining why an absence has occurred.
Class teachers will monitor student absence and will contact parents where necessary.
The principal has a responsibility to ensure that attendance records are maintained and monitored at school.
All student absences are recorded in both the morning and the afternoon by teachers, are aggregated on our CASES database and communicated to the Department of Education and Training.
The Department of Education and enrolment auditors may seek student attendance records.
The principal and staff have a further responsibility to ensure that unexplained absences are investigated, and that high levels of absenteeism are adequately explained. (See Form 2 below).
The principal/ assistant principal will contact parents of students with high levels of unexplained or unapproved absences, with the view to developing and implementing strategies to minimise absences.
Ongoing unexplained absences, or lack of cooperation regarding student attendance will result in a formal attendance conference being organised. Unresolved attendance issues may be reported by the principal to the Department of Human Services.
Student attendance and absence figures will appear on student half year and end of year reports.
Aggregated student attendance data is reported to the Department of Education and Training and the wider community each year as part of the annual report.
Evaluation:
This policy will be reviewed as part of the school’s three-year review cycle.
