Attendance
Regular attendance at school is crucial if students are to develop their talents. Al Amanah College, in partnership with parents, is in charge of maintaining the regular attendance of students. While parents are legally responsible for the regular attendance of their children, school staff as part of their duty of care, share that responsibility in monitoring and responding to part or whole day absences.
Aim
The school aims to encourage a positive and supportive learning environment for all the students by following the attendance policy which students along with parents and school staff work together to make sure that all enrolled students attend their classes and other scheduled educational activities.
Sentral Software
The SENTRAL software, which gets backed up twice daily as a normal procedure at the School, is
the method used by Al Amanah College to keep records. A copy of the backup is kept in the School’s
safe and another is kept with the Principal. Sentral retains the register of enrolments indefinitely thus
meeting its legal obligation of retaining the register for a minimum of five (5) years before archiving.
It also retains the register of daily attendance indefinitely thus again meeting its legal obligation of
retaining the register of daily attendance for a minimum of seven (7) years after the last entry was
made. SENTRAL maintains a register of enrolments and a register of attendance including the
following information for each student:
Name, age and address
The name and contact telephone number of parent(s)/guardian(s)
Date of enrolment and, where appropriate, the date of leaving the school and the student’s
destination
For students older than six (6) years, previous school or pre-enrolment situation
Where the destination of a student below seventeen (17) years of age is unknown, the School will
notify a Department of Education and Communities officer with home school liaison responsibilities
of the student’s full name, date of birth, last known address, last date of attendance, parents’ names
and contact details, an indication of possible destination, other information that may assist officers to
locate the student, and any known occupational health and safety risks associated with contacting the
parents or student.
Best Practice Guidelines
General
- The school uses the “SENTRAL Software” for all record keeping in relation to students’
attendance and absence. - Parents are requested to contact the school either by phone or by note whenever a child is
absent or late. - The parent of any child without explanation will be contacted by letter or phone requesting
an explanation for any absence on the second day of absence, this is to ensure that students
are not absent without their parents knowledge or consent. - No student is allowed to leave the school grounds during school hours without a note. All
students’ parents must also sign the Register when leaving early. Parents who are collecting
students should do so directly from the office. - Students who arrive at school after 8:45am (secondary) and 8:40am (primary) must report to
the office to collect a late slip, and then go to their classroom. When students receive a late
slip they will be marked on the roll as present but late, and the late arrival will be recorded in
the “Late Arrival Register” followed by an entry on SENTRAL - No student should arrive at school before 8:00 am.
- Class teachers are directly responsible for monitoring daily attendance.
- All absences are carefully monitored and followed up by referring to appropriate personnel as
required.
Sickness
- Parents are requested to phone the office before 8:45am (secondary) and 8:40am (primary) or
send a note with another member of the family if a child is to be absent from school. Any
unexplained absences will be investigated after this time. - Parents are required to inform the class teacher in writing of reasons for their child’s absence
the first day the child returns to school. - Parents are requested to notify the school immediately if it is known that a child’s absence is
likely to exceed one week.
Unexplained Absence
- The parents are contacted on the third day of absence for a verbal explanation. If the school
is unsuccessful in contacting the parents a note is left on the SENTRAL stating (unable to
contact parents). - If the child is still absent the following day another attempt is made to contact the parents, and
a note is left on the SENTRAL if we are still unsuccessful. - The school will try all emergency numbers on file to have direct contact with the parents.
- After the child has been absent from school for a week (5 consecutive days) a letter is sent
home asking parents to contact the school immediately to provide an explanation. (A copy of
the letter is kept in the student’s file) and a request for a visit by a school representative to the
student’s family home is suggested to check on the child without causing any discomfort to
family or child - If there has been no response from the parents a second letter is sent via registered mail
informing them that the matter will be forwarded to the Department of Education and
Communities officer with home school liaison responsibilities - The school will contact Department of Education and Communities officer with home school
liaison responsibilities informing them of the situation and the concerns the school may have. - Every time an attempt is made to contact the parents a note of the date and the time the attempt
was made is kept.
Exemptions
As at 27 February 2012, the process for considering an application for exemption is:
- Put the parental application on letterhead and give to the parent to complete
- Review the parent’s application against the criteria in the DET guidelines
- Put the certificate of exemption on school letterhead and complete for the parent (if the
application is supported) - Give the original certificate to the parent
Keep a copy of the application, certificate and Minister’s delegation on the student’s file.
Roll Marking
The School uses “Sentral software” to record student attendances/absences. Teachers are to complete
the “Roll group with Attendance Grid form” each morning. These forms are to be sent to the office
to be recorded by office staff on “Sentral”.
1. Class Rolls must always be marked accurately. Principals are required to maintain an
attendance register (roll) in a form approved by the Minister (Education Act 1990 section 24).
2. Teachers should be conversant with the school’s Policies and Procedures.
3. Parents or carers should be informed that it is their responsibility to:
a. ensure that their child attends school regularly
b. explain the absences of their children from school promptly.
4. The first and last day of attendance each term should be marked with an ‘X’.
5. The exception method (marking absences only) is to be followed as shown:
a. place a lower case ‘a’ in the day’s column against the name of the absent student at
the time
b. when the declaration of student attendance is made
c. subsequently, when the declaration regarding the nature of leave is made, either A, S,
L, E, M, F, B or H is written above the ‘a’, for example:
A S L E M F B H
a a a a a a a a
6. The following entries should be made
• First and last day of attendance each term (see 4) …..………..…. X
• Absence declared (absence included in absence return) …………. a
• Absence for part of a day (see 11) …..………………………………… P
• Absence unexplained after 7 days or unjustified ……………………. A
• Absence on official school business (absence not included in absence
return) ……………………………………………………………….…………… B
• Absence due to suspension (absence included in absence return) …………….… E
• The student is participating in a flexible timetable and not present because they are not
required at school. This could include participation in:
o Online Learning
o HSC pathways program
o Best Start Assessments
o Trial or HSC examinations
o VET courses
– if the child is of or above the age of 15 years-paid work or a combination of approved
education or training and paid work. (absence not included in absence
return) …………………………………………………………………..…… F
• The student is enrolled in a school and is required or approved to attend an alternative
educational setting on a sessional or full time basis ………………………….…. H
• Absence with leave – reason accepted by the principal (absence included in absence
return) ……………………………………………………………….… L
• Absence with approved exemption (absence not included in absence
return) ………………………………………………………………………………… M
• Absence owing to sickness or as a result of medical or paramedical appointment
(absence included in absence return) .…………………………….. S
• Public holidays and other days on which the school is not open for instruction are
indicated by a vertical broken line in the column for that day.
7. No codes other than a, A, S, L, E, P, M, F, B or H are to be used in marking the roll.
8. The student’s absence is unexplained or unjustified. This symbol must be used if no explanation
has been provided by parents within seven days of the occurrence of an absence or the
explanation is not accepted by the principal It is at the principal’s discretion to accept or not
accept the explanation provided.
An A should be recorded for the day.
9. The symbol ‘B’ is used where a student is absent from the school site on official school business.
This may include work experience, student exchange, school sport (regional and state carnivals),
and school excursions.
10. The student is participating in a flexible timetable and not present because they are not required
at school. This could include participation in:
o Online learning
o Tutorial centre and programs
o HSC pathways program
o Best Start Assessments
o Trial or HSC examinations
o VET courses
An F should be recorded for the day.
11. The student is enrolled in a school and is required or approved to be attending an alternative
educational setting on a sessional or full time basis. The symbol is recorded where a student
accesses education settings separate to their mainstream school such as:
– behaviour schools
– juvenile justice
– hospital schools
– distance education
An H should be recorded for the day.
12. Under Section 25 of the Education Act 1990, the Minister may grant a Certificate of Exemption.
This power is delegated, subject to the Guidelines on the AIS website, to principals, in relation
to granting of an exemption from school attendance for periods totaling up to 50 days in a 12
month period for any one student. An M should be recorded for the day.
13. Absences on an occasion (i.e. part of a day) or unjustified lateness or fractional truancy is shown
by placing ‘P’ next to ‘a’ in the day’s column against the name of the student when the absence
is determined. When the reason for the part absence is determined, either A, S, L, E, M or B is
to be placed above the ‘a’, for example:
A S L E M B
Pa Pa Pa
Details of Partial Absences i.e. times and dates are to be recorded in the “Details of Absences
on Occasions” which follows the Term 4 section of this roll. Partial absences are not included
in tallies of absence returns.
14. The number or absences for each student are to be counted and recorded at the end of each term.
Exemptions (M), flexible timetable (F), official school business (B), absence from home school
due to attendance at a specialist education setting (H) and partial absences (Pa) are not to be
included in tallies and Absence Returns.
15. In the column headed ‘Special notes’ comments such as ‘speech therapy Tuesdays’ or ‘medical
history – no exertion’ may be made. Confidential notations should not be included.