Students arriving late to school
The school day commences at 8:40am. Students are expected to be in class, ready to learn when the bell sounds. Late students are required to enter school via the front office and obtain a ‘Late Pass’ to hand to their teacher. Attendance records are then updated to reflect the arrival time. Please note that late arrivals are disruptive to teachers and students and should be avoided wherever possible.
Students leaving school early
Wherever possible, details relating to an early departure should be communicated to the class teacher ahead of time. Parents/Carers are then required to enter the school through the front office and complete a ‘Leave Pass’ at the time they wish to remove the student from school. This pass is to be provided to the teacher when the parent/carer collects their child from the classroom.
Student Absences
Wherever possible, planned student absences should be advised to the teacher prior to being taken. When an absence has not been explained a SMS text message will be sent to Parent/Guardian one to alert them. You can report absences either by responding to the SMS text message or by completing an absence form available on the school website and Connect.
In Term Holidays (Unauthorised Vacations)
‘In Term’ Holidays must be advised to the class teacher and to the school via carnabyrise.ps@education.wa.edu.au. Families will then receive an email from the Principal outlining Section 23 of the School Education Act 1999 which requires students to attend school, or participate in an educational program of the school, on the days on which it is open for instruction;
A student may be excused if they are prevented from attending due to temporary physical or mental incapacity, or other reasonable cause (Section 25). As such, in-term holidays are not supported by the Department’s Student Attendance policy and procedures. The School Education Act 1999 does not allow principals to give permission for families to take holidays during the school term. As students are required to attend school every day, time off for holidays is recorded as an absence.
Some schools may provide families with work packages to support students to catch-up on missed learning. There is no requirement within the School Education Act 1999 or School Education Regulations 2000 for teachers to provide a work package and as a school we have made the decision not to provide students with learning materials if they are absent from school without a valid reason. As you would understand this creates an additional work load for staff.
Family time is important and extremely valuable but at school, many concepts, such as literacy and numeracy, are taught in a sequence. Missing school means missing out on learning – which can often make it difficult to catch up later. This is particularly important in the early years when essential foundation skills are being taught.
