Margaret Lowe – Deputy Principal

When does attending school really matter?

Most students, (like most adults in the workplace), will need to stay home from school from time to time due to illness or injury. Occasionally, there might be a very special event that a person would seek leave to attend, like the 80^th birthday of a grandparent who lives in New Zealand or the Bar/Bat Mitzvah of a cousin who lives in Melbourne, etc. These very special events would also mean missing school (or work). For an average student, there might be a couple of days of illness per term and perhaps one very special event. Let’s say this could be nine days across the school year or approximately one day every three weeks.

Where is the tipping point? When is it reasonable to be away from school and when is it problematic?

The Legislation is clear but life is less clear. Students must attend school every day between the ages of six and 17 years, except in very specific instances.

• Ill
• Injured
• Medical appointment
• Religious holidays – we are closed for Jewish holidays so this is unlikely to resonate with our families
• Exceptional family circumstances such as attending a funeral.

Travel, generally, is not listed as a reason for an absence.

Interestingly, there are some common reasons for absences given by our parents that are not listed by the NSW Department of Education as acceptable. They include:

• Birthdays
• Long weekends
• Preferring to work from home
• Hot / cold / stormy weather
• Travel
• Seeing friends.

The NSW Department of Education provides a factsheet about school attendance. It’s worth a read. What is the impact of missing school? The most obvious is the impact on learning when students miss out and have to catch up. A less obvious impact is that on relationships with peers. Some students struggle to transition back to school when they have frequent absences as all of their relationships at school have been disrupted.

The NSW Department of Education document states that being absent one day per fortnight equates to four weeks absence per year or over one year missed during a child’s school life. Imagine the impact of taking a year off? What if your child is only absent one day per month? Half the impact but it still adds up to six months off school.

The Attendance Legislation requires parents to explain an absence within seven days. Schools can require medical certificates and can also require contact with a treating doctor in order to ensure a plan is in place to help a student.

Punctuality is a type of subset of attendance. Why does being punctual matter? What are the impacts? Just like being absent for the day, a student who is late may be missing out on learning. The social impact is also considerable, with students who arrive late having no time to settle in with their friends before class. In Primary School, this is often the time when organisational matters and reminders are given and when students are set up for the day ahead. Missing this has a significant impact on the students’ involvement, sense of confidence and belonging. The disruption to class when a late student arrives is worth avoiding and the skill of being punctual is one worth learning for life.

So why do we follow up with you when your child is absent or late? It is a legal responsibility for all schools to ensure attendance is recorded but more importantly, punctual attendance at school gives your child the greatest chance of achieving to their potential and feeling connected to our school community. Even when your child is late, it is important that you email/log the reason. Without this, it is logged as unexplained on the child’s record.

Whilst it is lovely to have that birthday lunch, a better option is to have it on the weekend with your children. Please keep a note of how many days and part days your child misses, so you can consider the impact before seeking to be absent for something that is not included in the Legislation.