As the weather begins to cool and the rigours of homework and assessment tasks begin to take hold, the topic of unnecessary absenteeism needs some discussion. There will always be occasions when a student should stay home to recover from an illness. In fact, on occasions the College has had to send students home, as rest and a visit to the doctor is the best remedy.
However, being sick is very different to not feeling like going to school. In this instance, unnecessary absenteeism means the times students say they don’t feel like going to school because … too often these reasons are little more than trying to avoid something at the College, be it friendship issues or falling behind in work or a scheduled assessment is due.
It is important to note that each absent day has an impact on skill development and social connections. It is also important to note that the number of days away from school quickly adds up. Missing one day of school every fortnight adds up to over a month of absenteeism over the full year. Allowing your child to avoid school unnecessarily allows for avoidance to become normalised and makes further absence easier. It’s alarming to think how much skill development would be missed through unnecessary absenteeism.
When faced with requests to stay home, it may be a good opportunity to talk about the importance of showing up to school every day, as it will become a good behaviour to establish to help ensure regular attendance when in part-time or full-time employment. What we teach our students about and at school goes well beyond the set curriculum.
To ensure your child can achieve 100% attendance, we ask that you try not to schedule hair, dental or medical appointments during school hours and arrange family holidays during scheduled school holidays.
If you are concerned about your child’s attitude about attendance, give their Year Level Leader a call for support or visit the Victorian State Government Webpage Factors affecting attendance
