Attendance

3 School support for full attendance

Victorian government schools are required to provide active support (including targeted responses and effective intervention strategies) for full student attendance and retention until the completion of Year 12 or its equivalent and respond to individual student circumstances when regular attendance is not consistent.

Whilst ensuring student attendance at school is a legal obligation of parents, supporting students to attend school each day is the shared responsibility of all parents, students, the school and the wider community.

This responsibility is underpinned by shared understandings and expectations about the procedures for the promotion, monitoring and follow-up of student attendance.

All government schools are required to develop a Student wellbeing and engagement policy which articulates the school community's shared expectations in the areas of student engagement, attendance and behaviour, and outlines a series of processes, actions and consequences when regular attendance is not consistent.

Whole-school strategies to promote attendance

Whole-school strategies and clear understandings of processes are important for promoting attendance. For guidance on supporting a whole school approach to attendance, refer to the Schools' guide to attendance (DOCX). Principals and all school staff play an important role in developing and reinforcing clear understandings of the shared expectations for attendance amongst schools, students and parents.

Principals are responsible for communicating these expectations to parents and students when they enrol at the school, and for regularly communicating with all parents about attendance issues.

Schools can promote and maintain high levels of student attendance and participation through developing whole school strategies. A clear whole-school strategy can:

• articulate high expectations to all members of the school community by:
  • regularly communicating with parents about expectations for attendance
  • promoting awareness that absence results in quantifiable lost learning time and opportunities
  • modelling punctuality across the whole school
• create safe, supportive learning environments where all students experience success through active participation and engagement in purposeful learning by:
  • developing collaborative and empowering relationships between teachers, students and parents
  • implementing effective and supportive transition programs, including student transitions between different learning areas and levels within the school, and pathways and careers support programs
  • developing class and home group structures and environments that enable opportunities for increased connectedness to individual teachers and peers
  • encouraging parents to get involved in the life of the school
  • immediately following-up any problems identified by students and parents in a transparent manner
• adopt consistent, rigorous procedures to monitor and record student absence by:
  • immediately following-up individual student absences
  • correctly using student attendance data management systems (e.g. CASES21)
  • delegating responsibilities to all staff, with a key member of staff leading attendance improvement initiatives
• implement data-driven attendance improvement strategies, for example:
  • monitoring and analysing school attendance records regularly and using tools for early identification of students at risk of poor attendance (such as the Panorama and Staying in Education dashboards)
  • regularly discussing student attendance records in staff meetings and in the staff performance and development review process
• provide early identification of and supportive intervention for students at risk of poor attendance by:
  • understanding the causal factors of absence and the need for targeted interventions
  • providing out-of-school programs, including breakfast, homework and walking bus clubs
• link with local community groups and agencies to maximise program and individual support by:
  • collaborating with other schools, community groups and agencies
• access specialist support for individual students with identified behavioural, health, or social concerns by:
  • utilising Student Support Services or external community services where appropriate
• provide a staged response to non-attendance by:
  • focusing on prevention and early intervention by creating a positive school culture
  • intervening and providing targeted responses for individual students
• support students to return to school after absences through:
  • setting individual student attendance goals and data-driven improvement plans
  • formal procedures for supporting the learning of a student absent for an extended period
  • positive and flexible support and follow-up with students on their return to school, including the use of the Attendance Support Plan (DOCX) and Modified Timetable Agreement where required

Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion Workforces

The Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion Workforces (HWIW) work as integrated, multidisciplinary teams to provide support to government schools across Victoria. They support schools in meeting the engagement, wellbeing, inclusion and learning needs of students. Each workforce within the HWIW has specific expertise to provide effective service delivery. For more information, refer to: Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion Workforces: Policy.

Student Support Services

Student Support Services are available in Victorian Government schools to assist children and young people, facing a range of barriers to learning, to achieve their educational and developmental potential through the provision of strategies and specialised support at individual, group, school and network levels.

Student Support Services comprise a broad range of professionals including psychologists, guidance officers, speech pathologists, social workers and visiting teachers. Student Support Services officers work as part of an integrated health and wellbeing team within networks of schools, focusing on providing group based and individual support, workforce capacity building and specialised services.

Koorie Engagement Support Officers

Koorie Engagement Support Officers assist in building communication links with parents to facilitate an increased awareness of school policy, encourage greater communication between parents and teachers and promote more parental involvement in school community activities and school decision making.

They can also provide expert advice to school communities and kindergartens about models of effective support for Koorie children and young people.

Mental Health Practitioners

Mental Health Practitioners work to enhance mental health promotion and prevention activities in secondary schools by building the capability of teaching staff and school leadership to identify and respond to changes in student mental health and wellbeing.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Leaders

Mental Health and Wellbeing Leaders (MHWLs) are primary school teachers who work across the school to implement a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing for students, staff, and families based on a broad knowledge of the needs of the school community.

Community partnerships

Community expectations can play a significant role in school attendance. Linking to the local community can give schools access to an extended network of community members and encourage and promote school attendance by presenting a consistent message to young people.

Young people with a meaningful connection to a particular community tend to be more resilient when facing issues such as school and family stress. Partnerships between schools and community-based service providers can enable more streamlined and efficient delivery of services to vulnerable students.

Partnerships via school networks and community service provider networks are an important way for schools to assist students at risk of disengagement from education and non-attendance by sharing approaches and resources.