The Importance of Good Attendance

I'd like to give you a quick update on the importance of good attendance. Attendance is a legal requirement and a shared responsibility of the school and the family. Attendance is defined as lateness as well as absence from school. There is a direct link between good attendance and achievement/progress at school.

 

While this might seem like a 'no-brainer', it is shown that early attendance patterns can be a strong predictor of future success in education across a students time in school, i.e. poor attendance in primary school can be a strong indicator of future difficulties at high school. Therefore, the better your child's attendance, the more likely their success at school. Parents can do the following things to help us in this shared responsibility:

 

• Classrooms open at 8.30am. The time between 8.30-8.55 is important social/organisational learning time for children.
• Always email or leave a message at the office if your child is either late, or going to be absent from school - admin@burnham.school.nz or 3476851.
• Always give a reason for lateness or absence - this is a requirement of our procedures.
• The office will call families by 9.15am to find out reasons for absence if parents do not let us know. Reasons are always recorded in our system.
• On rare occasions when attendance is difficult to maintain, staff will discuss this with you and if you're really lucky your friendly principal may discuss it with you!
• Always talk to us about any difficulties you may be experiencing in this area - we are here to work with you for the success of your child(ren).

Links for your interest:

1. Burnham School procedure for attendance - user: burnham and password: c4mp
2. Ministry of Education guidance