Attendance

It is widely recognised that students need to attend school on a regular basis to gain the maximum benefit from schooling and in so doing optimise their life opportunities. It is also widely recognised that attendance problems are best managed by early identification and intervention. The School Education Act 1999 requires compulsory aged students, as defined in the Act, to attend school, or participate in an educational programme of a school, on the days on which the school is open for instruction unless an arrangement in writing has been entered into for a student.

In the interests of ensuring all of our students are achieving to the best of their ability, we are hopeful that these measures will enhance our support of our students and we thank you in anticipation of your cooperation in these matters.

Student Absence

At Lesmurdie Senior High School we recognise the strong link between student attendance and student achievement. So much so that we have appointed an Attendance Officer to oversee the recording of student attendance as well as monitoring and amending as necessary our existing policy and procedures to ensure greater accuracy and accountability. Parents will be notified by SMS if their child is absent from class.

Contact with parents/carers is fundamental to ensuring the data we have at our end is accurate.  There are many reasons why our information may be incorrect – the regular class teacher may be absent, for some reason the student may not answer when their name is called or they may arrive late to class, data may be incorrectly entered or recorded etc.  Furthermore, if students are absenting themselves from school without the knowledge of their parents/carers, we want to be able to communicate this information sooner rather than later!

In order for us to work collaboratively in improving student attendance rates across the board, we are asking that parents/carers note the following:

• Please contact the absentee line (9291 1215) to advise of any absences relating to appointments etc. (if known in advance).  The Attendance Officer will inform the relevant Year Coordinator as necessary.
• Please telephone the absentee line prior to 10.30am on the day of any absence and give brief details of the reason for the absence.  If your child is marked absent from class and we have not received notification from parents/carers, telephone contact will be made.
• When leaving a message on the Absentee Line, please provide the FULL NAME of the student and their YEAR group.
• Please notify the school immediately of any changes to your contact details (e.g. change of address or home or mobile telephone number) as soon as possible so that we can update our records.
• Alternatively a written note must be provided within three (3) days of the absence.  Notes should be presented to Lower School or Senior School upon return to school.

Lateness to School

• All students (Years 7-12) arriving to school late MUST provide a written note giving brief details of the reason/s for lateness and immediately report to the School Officer in Lower School (Years 7-9) or Senior School (Years 10-12).  Students must not go directly to class.
• The student will be provided with an ‘entry to class slip’ and advised to show it to their teacher upon entry to each of their classes during the day.
• When students arrive late to school without a note, the ’absence’ will be recorded as “unexplained” until such time as a note is received or the parent advises the school via telephone or email.  Once this information has been received the record will be amended.
• Students arriving late to school without parent permission or arriving late on a consistent basis may be required to complete lunchtime or after school detention.

Students Leaving Early For Essential Appointments

• A note from a parent/carer is essential when a child is leaving school to attend an appointment during the day.
• The note must be presented to Lower School (Years 7-9) or Senior School (Years 10-12) first thing in the morning so that the students can be issued with a ‘Early Departure Slip’.  The student should then show this slip to their class teacher at the commencement of the period during which they are leaving to forewarn of early departure and hold on to the slip whilst not at school until the end of the school day.
• No student is allowed to leave a class during the school day to “go to sign out”.
• All “signing out” MUST be completed before 8.40am.

Leaving School Grounds

• Students MUST NOT leave school grounds without the written consent of a parent/carer and the school.  This will be regarded as truancy.
• Students who leave the school grounds without permission will be considered to have committed a serious breach of school discipline and will be subject to disciplinary action.
• Students leaving school early or arriving late MUST sign in or out at Lower School (Years 7-9) or Senior School (Years 10-12) unless alternative arrangements have been put in place.

Out Of Class Pass System

All students should be in class during period times. Any student out of class must have an Out of Class Pass.  Students who are out of class without a valid reason will be considered to have ‘truanted’ and therefore may be required to make up the class time they missed.