Regular attendance helps each child create friendships and builds a greater sense of belonging. Regular attendance is linked to achievement and requires a commitment from parents and carers and a helpful home routine.
Attendance expectations
Our attendance expectation is that all children will attend school each school day unless there is an acceptable reason, such as:
- illness
- competing in school sporting events.
Avoid keeping your child away from school for reasons such as:
- birthdays
- shopping
- visiting family and friends
- if they sleep in
- looking after other children
- minor check ups or care, such as hair cuts.
Establishing good routines around school can assist with regular school attendance. These include:
- have a set time to go to bed
- have a set time to get out of bed
- have uniform and school bag ready the night before
- have a set time for starting and finishing breakfast
- set a time for daily homework activities
- speak about school positively
- send your child to school every school day including their birthday and the last day of term from Prep.
If you are experiencing difficulty in sending your child to school, contact the school.
Additional resources to support parents and carers about regular attendance can be found on the Department's Every day counts website.
Reporting absences
It is important to notify the school if your child is going to be absent from school. This ideally is done prior to, or on the morning of the absence. To do this, parents and carers are asked to contact the school using one of the contact methods below:
The parents and carers then provide the following information:
- parent or carer's name,
- name of the student,
- student's class,
- date of the absence, and
- reason for absences.
Late arrivals and departures early departures
At Howard State School learning starts at 8.40am and finishes at 2.40pm.
Ideally students attend a full day of schooling. Should your child arrive at school after 8.40am or depart before 2.40pm, the steps listed below must be followed:
Late arrival
The student, and ideally the parent or carer, attends the office to 'signed in'.
Early departure
The student attends the office to 'signed out'. A parent or carer attends the office and collects the student.