Dear Parents/Carers,

In recent days it has been necessary to follow up with a number of families concerning chronic absenteeism with their child or children. When a child is away for 10 ten days in total, without  appropriate validation, it is the policy of our System of Schools to contact the parent and verify the reasoning behind the absences.  Once the total is between 15-20 days, a meeting with the principal will be requested.  At this meeting, unless they have already been supplied, a doctor’s certificate will be requested for any future absences. If a student has over 20 days without reasonable ongoing health issues that have been validated by a medical practitioner, parents will be asked to meet with me to establish an Attendance Improvement Plan.  Should the concerns continue, the Head of School Improvement Services will be notified and consideration given to placing a report to Community Services.  

Last year, and for much of this year the impact of COVID was a huge point of consideration.  However,  with protocols relaxing, including no need to isolate if you are a close contact, as long as you have no COVID/cold/flu symptoms and a daily negative RAT test, the impact on a child’s attendance is no longer a reasonable excuse. I have listed some frequently asked questions about attendance below with the information you need to know about each.  Hopefully, after reading this, if you are having problems getting your child to school, you could share some of the answers to help your child understand the importance of school attendance.

WHY MUST I SEND MY CHILD TO SCHOOL ? 

Education in New South Wales is compulsory. This means all children between the ages of six and seventeen are legally required to attend school whenever instruction is provided. 

WHY IS REGULAR ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL IMPORTANT? 

Regular school attendance will help your child to succeed in later life. Attending school every day makes learning easier for your child and helps children to build and maintain friendships with other children. If your child doesn’t learn the basic skills in the early years of school, they may develop learning problems in later years. 

DID YOU KNOW IF STUDENTS MISS AS LITTLE AS EIGHT DAYS IN A SCHOOL TERM, BY THE END OF PRIMARY SCHOOL THEY WILL HAVE MISSED A YEAR OF EDUCATION? 

Must I send my child every day? YES. It is a condition of enrolment that you send your child to school every day. A small number of absences may be justified if your child has to: 

• go to a special religious ceremony; 
• is required to attend to a serious and/or urgent family situation (e.g. a funeral); and 
• is too sick to go to school or has an infectious illness. 

Must my child attend all activities, including daily fitness and sport? YES. Sport and other physical activities help to keep your children healthy. Children are expected to attend all regular school activities, including sport. Do not keep your child away from school for the following: 

• birthdays; 
• shopping; 
• minding other children; 
• routine check-ups or care such as haircuts; 
• minor family events; and 
• sleeping in. 

Medical and other health appointments for your child should be made either before or after school or during the school holidays. 

WHY IS ARRIVING AT SCHOOL ON TIME IMPORTANT? 

Arriving at school and class on time: 

• ensures that your child doesn’t miss out on the important learning activities scheduled early in the day when they are most alert;

• helps your child to learn the importance of punctuality and routine; and 
• gives your child time to greet their friends before class and therefore reduces the opportunity for classroom disruption. 

Lateness is recorded as a partial absence and must be explained to the school the same way as other forms of absence. 

WHAT IF MY CHILD CONTINUES TO HAVE UNSATISFACTORY ATTENDANCE? 

It is important to understand that the New South Wales Department of Education may take further action in cases where children of compulsory school age have recurring numbers of unjustified absences from school. This can include requesting that parents and sometimes their child go to a compulsory attendance conference to help identify the barriers to the child’s attendance and implement strategies with parents, the school and other agencies who might be able to assist. If all attempts by schools and systems to improve attendance have been unsuccessful, parents may be exposed to fines imposed by the Local Court.

Go gently,

Michael Reardon
Principal

Principal Awards

Congratulations to the following students who have recently received a Principal Award. 

Jayde Evans, William Porter, Ruby Robertson, Valentino Santucci, Genevieve Flannery, Savannah Oliva, Anthony Macri, Ruby Woodcock, Giulia Giorgi, Jaxon Casey, Elliot Flannery, Isobel Shaw, Ryder Harris, Michael Macri, Paige Campbell, Sienna Novek