Since 2008, education and/or training is compulsory for students until the end of the year in which they turn 17 or 17 ½ years of age. Under legislation it is the duty of the parent/carer to ensure that a student of compulsory school age is enrolled and attends school or a registered training institution.
Regular attendance is essential to assist students to maximise their learning potential. The probability of success in learning is strongly linked to regular attendance equal or greater than 90%.
Characteristics
At Yanchep SC we:
- Believe that students enrolled must attend all day on every school day.
- Monitor, communicate and implement strategies to improve a student’s attendance in consultation and with support from parents/carers.
- Believe truanting could place a student in an unsafe situation.
- Give detentions to those students who choose to deliberately miss classes and jeopardise their learning opportunities.
- Notify parents of any truancy breaches.
Indicators of students at risk are:
- Frequent lateness.
- Leaving school without permission (truancy).
- Unexplained absences.
Parents/carers will be contacted if the student is deemed to be at risk due to poor attendance by the Student Services team.
All students must:
- be at school during their normal timetabled hours, or
- be absent only with their parents’ or the school’s permission
Students who are absent from school for an entire day must bring a note of explanation as soon as they return. This note should clearly state the student’s first name, surname, GEM class, the date(s) and reason for the absence. The note must be given to the Student Services reception desk. Parents are requested to ring the school by 9.00am on the day of their child’s absence.
All students late to school must report to the Student Services Front desk with a note, have their attendance confirmed on ACADEMY, receive a late note and go to class.
Students needing to leave during the day must:
- bring a parent’s note stating permission to leave, which outlines the reason and the time the student needs to leave
- report to the Student Services Centre prior to school or during recess/lunch time, have their name recorded and receive a Leave Pass from the reception desk
- Sign in at the Student Services Centre if they return to school later that day
Student Attendance Support
Yanchep SC will support students who do not meet the minimum attendance requirements in one or more of the following ways:
- The student will meet with the Year Coordinator to discuss possible issues surrounding attendance
- Parents will be invited to a meeting about attendance
- Parents and students will be invited to attend an Individual Attendance Plan (IAP) meeting
- Parents will be invited to participate in a Responsible Parenting Agreement (RPA)
- The student may be referred to the Student Engagement Team at regional office for further support and strategies to improve attendance
- Monitoring and review of attendance, and subsequent meetings including an invitation to convene and participate in an Attendance Panel
Failure to adequately engage with the Student Services team on issues to improve attendance and therefore jeopardise educational outcomes may result in regional office being invited to offer further support in the home and school through outside agency referrals.
Students are expected to attend school on all days including sports carnivals, cultural days and excursion days. Punctuality in arrival at school is a requisite. Hours of attendance at Yanchep SC are 8:40am-2:50pm unless students have a session 0 or 6 class under a flexible timetable arrangement. On Wednesdays, student hours are 9.30am to 2.50pm.
Students who are late or miss school due to sickness must have a note, text or email sent to Yanchep SC by a parent or caregiver.
We strongly discourage parents from taking planned holidays during term time. The school strongly encourages scheduled school holidays for personal holiday planning.
Yanchep SC acknowledges that holidays are an enriching experience, but by law, every student is expected to attend school every day. Teachers are not obliged to accommodate students on holiday with learning programs. Catch up work will be provided when a student is absent in the case of illness.
Parents who wish to take students out of school for the purpose of a family holiday for longer than two school days are required to apply to Anthony Johnson, Deputy Principal of Student Services by email Anthony.Johnson@education.wa.edu.au or in writing, at least one month prior to the intended holiday absence.
Attendance – Senior School
All teachers keep accurate attendance records for all classes.
If senior school students are late to school, they must report to Student Services with a note or a phone call from a parent/carer to receive a late note before going to class. Penalties will apply to students who arrive late without parent notification.
Teachers will contact parents of students whose attendance is affecting their course progress.
Year Coordinators will follow up unexplained absences and update school records through Student Services.
Teachers will refer students with ongoing absences to the relevant Year Coordinator.
Absence is defined as any non-attendance at a class when normal timetable is in operation.
A student is deemed absent even when they are;
- legitimately ill
- absent for extenuating family circumstances such as bereavement
- on excursion or camp or representing the school at a function
When students miss classes, no matter what the reason, there is still work to be done. If significant amounts of learning are missed, student achievement will be affected. Students may miss some classes due to legitimate school activities or timetabled Workplace Learning and will require special consideration. Teachers will only refer Workplace Learning students to Student Services who are not keeping up with their course requirements
Extended Absence
Extended student absence from school due to family holidays should be avoided as it interferes with the learning and assessment program.
Absences of this nature need to be discussed with the Upper School Program Coordinator in advance of plans being finalised. Students concerned will need to complete an educational plan with their teachers to cater for missed lesson time.
Absences from school must be substantiated by written evidence.
The Principal will support and encourage full time attendance in education for every student in the compulsory years of schooling. With the exceptions of suspension or exclusion the school will not enforce a restriction on a student’s attendance. Students are expected to attend a minimum of 90% of the school days and actively dissuades parents from taking their child out of school during the term for holiday purposes.
Yanchep SC reviews data on;
- suspension rates by gender, year group recurrence and individual recurrence
- attendance data
The report will be shared with staff and the Board to determine support levels, areas of priority and funding to promote proactive programs to remediate areas of behavioural concern.