St Edward's | Attendance
It is important that parents are aware of the legal responsibility related to their child’s attendance at school. The following information outlines the legislation.
Absence From School
What to do When Your Child is Absent from School
- On the first day of the absence, contact the College office early in the day either by telephone or email and state the reason for the absence and the likely date of your child’s return to school. Please do not delegate this responsibility unless circumstances prevent you from taking care of it personally.
- When your child returns to school, provide a written note providing the reason(s) for the absence. This note must be signed by one of the parents/carers and dated.
- If an extended absence or frequent absences are due to illness, the Principal may request a doctor’s certificate.
- The Principal is responsible for accepting or not accepting a parent’s/carer’s explanation for their child’s absence. If an explanation is not forthcoming or is not acceptable, the absence will be recorded as A-Unexplained or Unjustified. If after seven school days an explanation has not been provided, the absence will be recorded as A-Unexplained or Unjustified regardless of whether a subsequent explanation would have been acceptable to the Principal.
- If an unavoidable absence is planned (e.g. a medical, specialist or orthodontic appointment) the Pastoral Care Co-ordinator (Mr English) must be informed in advance, preferably by a hand written note or email, from the parent/carer. Students granted permission to leave the College throughout the day must sign out at the front office and will be issued with a leave pass indicating the time they left the College.
What to do When Your Child is Late to School
- All students must sign in at Student Reception as soon as they arrive at school, before they go to class. They will be issued with a late note to present to their class teacher.
- When your child is late for school, please provide the school office with a written note/email explaining the lateness. This note should be signed and dated by the parent/carer. Where possible the note should be provided when your child arrives at school. If not, the note/email should be provided on the next school day. If after seven school days an explanation has not been provided, the lateness will be recorded as A-Unexplained or Unjustified regardless of whether a subsequent explanation would have been acceptable to the Principal.
- Students who regularly arrive late to school are monitored closely. Where a pattern of lateness continues, parents will be notified and students may be required to make up this time out of school hours.
Applications for Leave in Advance
- The Principal can allocate up to 15 days of leave per student in a school year. A note must be submitted to your son’s Year Coordinator indicating the reason for the leave.
- Applications for leave of periods over 15 days should be made to your son’s Year Coordinator on the official College form, well in advance of the intended date. Only in exceptional circumstances will leave be granted without notice or retrospectively.
- Leave is granted for reasons such as:
- a misadventure or unforeseen event
- participation in special events not related to the school (eg receiving a community award)
- domestic necessity such as serious illness of an immediate family member
- attendance at funerals
- recognised religious festivals or ceremonies
- reasons which, at the Principal’s discretion, are deemed to be in the best interest of the child
- Generally, Acceptable or Justified Leave will not be granted for family holidays taken during term time. Should parents/carers take the leave regardless of the Principal’s decision not to grant leave, the school will record the absence as A-Unjustified Absence.
- Leave for more than 15 days require an Application for Exemption from attendance at School. The Principal may grant an Exemption of up to 100 days in a 12 month period. Applications for more than 100 days are forwarded to the office of the Minister for Education. Detailed application forms are required to be completed before an Exemption from Attendance is granted. Applications cannot be dealt with retrospectively. (A link to the Application for Exemption from School Form is on this web page.)
What Might Happen if my Child Continues to have Unacceptable Absences?
It is important to understand that St Edward’s is required to take further action where children of compulsory school age have recurring numbers of unexplained or unacceptable absences from school. Some of the following actions may be undertaken.
- The student will attend a meeting with their parents and the Deputy Principal to develop a plan for improved school attendance.
- The student may be required to meet with College counsellors
- Report(s) to community services
- DEEWR or Community Services may be notified
Text Messages notifying absenteeism
On random week days text messages will be sent to parents of absent students. If parents are aware of their son’s absence, they need do nothing but send in an absentee note on his return. If parents are unaware of their son’s absence, they should contact the College immediately.
Early Leave Pass
Students who need to leave the College due to an appointment, must provide a letter of explanation from a parent and present it to the Pastoral Care Co-ordinator before school. The Pastoral Care Co-ordinator will issue the student with a pass which should be presented to the office when the student leaves. All students must sign out at the office if they are leaving the College early.
Sport Early Leavers Pass
At the completion of Activities on Friday, students who are on Level 1 or Level 2 only and who attend Activities away from the College are permitted to travel home directly from the venue.
Eligible students must complete the form below (or download from EdNet) and present it to Mr Murray, Friday Sport Co-ordinator, prior to the day.
Students without a Sport Early Leaver’s Pass must return to the College and attend tutor.