Attendance

COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE
The Education Act requires that all students must attend school daily until the end of the year the student turns 17.

PUNCTUALITY
It is essential that students be at school by 8:40am each day. They must also ensure that they are prompt to all classes. Problems arise causing disruption of classes if students are persistently late to school or class.

ABSENCE
Absences for part of the day, all day, or for several days, must be covered by a written explanation or a phone call from the parent or guardian. These notes must be dated and specify the reasons for the absence/s. They should be brought to school by the student returning from a period of absence, and handed in to the Form Teacher or the Student Services office. Where a student is absent for a prolonged period of time, parents should contact the school as soon as possible.

REPORTING AN ABSENCE
– Via your Compass Login, or
– 08 9408 8034 (option to leave message if line busy or unattended)

LEAVING THE SCHOOL GROUNDS
Students needing to leave the school grounds during the school day must report to the Student Services office before school with a note of authorisation from their parent / guardian. The student will be provided with a “Permission to Leave School Grounds” slip. This is presented to the class teacher at the appropriate time who will then arrange for the student to leave. Students should report to the Student Services office to sign out prior to leaving the school grounds. Students should also sign in when returning to school.

SMS ABSENTEE MESSAGES
It is essential that parents keep us informed of any changes to their contact details. The school uses a messaging system to parents when students have unexplained absences.

An SMS is generated to a designated parent mobile phone if a student is absent without explanation. Messages commence at 9.30 a.m. and are repeated again during the day if no explanation is received.

We encourage parents to inform us by phone early in the morning if their student is to be absent and prior to the messages being sent by SMS.

The school asks parents to keep their contact details up to date with the College, especially their mobile phone numbers.

FURTHER INFORMATION ON SMS SERVICE
Please do not reply to absence notifications via the SMS.  Upon receiving an SMS, parents can phone (08) 9408 8034 or lodge a report through the Compass App to explain their child’s absence.

This service does rely on an internet connection. There are times where the internet connection is extremely busy, and the odd occasion where we do not have a link to the internet. This will cause delays in messages.

We have had a rare situations where messages did not arrive at parents’ phones until late in the evening, and where messages have crossed paths, i.e. your message advising us of your child’s absence has arrived at the same time an SMS has sent an absence message to you.

Please be aware that every effort is made to make certain the records are accurate and dispatched promptly, and this does happen 99% of the time. Occasionally technology may let us down.

Should you receive a message advising your child is absent and you believe that they are in class please ring the school first and speak with Student Services and have them confirm that your child is not in class. You may interrupt an important lesson if you ring your child before confirming their absence.

Go to SCHOOL EXPECTATIONS for Attendance Policy