K-12 School Attendance Reminders
Attendance at school is a legal requirement for every student under the age of 17 unless:
- leave has been granted by the Head of School in advance
- an emergency or unforeseen situation arises
- they are sick or have a medical/dental appointment.
If your daughter is unable to attend school due to illness or an emergency
Parents should notify the School before 9.30am when their daughter is absent for any reason. It is important that this communication includes the reason for the student’s absence. Any leave for reasons other than illness or an unforeseen situation should be sought well in advance from the Head of School, wherever possible.
Requesting Permission for Other Leave
Parents should be aware of the importance of school attendance except in the most extreme circumstances. To apply for other leave, parents should email Jenny Allum directly, giving the reasons for the leave sought, and with plenty of notice. Approval of such leave is completely at the discretion of the Head of School. The cumulative effects of student absence from school can be quite significant. For example, a student who is absent for more than 7 days every semester will miss more than a full school year over their 13 years of school if the pattern continues.
Students involved in elite sporting programs who have training schedules that may impact on their arrival at school on specific mornings for a short period of time should also apply directly to the Head of School for permission.
On very rare occasions, parents may also apply for Exemption from Attendance at School for their daughter. In this situation it must be “clearly demonstrated by the applicant that an exemption is in the student’s best interests in the short and long term and that alternatives to exemption have been considered”. For example, employment in the entertainment industry for a short period of time may be one such situation.
Absences notes/emails must be provided within 7 days
- Parents must provide a written explanation for any full day or partial absence (arriving late or leaving early). The explanation must include the reason for their daughter’s absence from school.
- Parents can provide written explanations in one of THREE ways: by providing an email from a registered parental contact email address, by submitting a form through the Parent Portal or by handwriting an absence note and signing it.
- In accordance with the National Standards for Student Attendance Data Reporting, parents MUST provide this written explanation within 7 calendar days of their daughter’s absence, or the absence will be recorded in a category labelled “unexplained or unjustified absence”. After 7 days, a written explanation must still be provided, but for our official records, for school reports and for records provided to Government agencies such as the Department of Education and the Department of Human Services, the absence must remain categorised as unexplained/unjustified.
Holly Gyton
Deputy Head of School
