“Attendance matters- for all children but especially for children in Kindergarten. Studies show children who miss too many days in Kindergarten and Year 1 can struggle in later years, particularly if the miss 10% of school days. This can be just two days a month and can build up before you know it.”
“Poor attendance can influence whether children read proficiently by Year 3.”
Attendance=Achievement: There is a direct link between attendance and achievement in all areas. Poor attendance is cumulative and has long term impacts. Decline in attendance often leads to early school exit, which is then linked to decreased life expectancy.
Individual student Attendance rates vary- below are our current attendance rates at OLR
11.1% of our students attended school all the time
12.7% of our students attended school each day, with partial absences
88.9% of our students had some form of absence
19.9% are vulnerable (Attendance rates 90%and below)
On each school day we see a constant stream of children arriving late but even more concerning is the number of students leaving early in the afternoon. It is a legal requirement, under the Education Act, that all school-age students attend school for the opening hours each day that the school is open for learning, which for OLR means from 8:55am to 3:15pm each school day.
We understand that children may be sick or have appointments from time to time and this will impact on their attendance at school: for some students this is a regular occurrence and we will be looking very carefully at these absences into the future.
Please read the attached information for parents regarding Compulsory School Attendance.
Let’s work together to support the learning of each student by having them present at school each day.