STUDENT ATTENDANCE

At present there are many students with unexplained absences, it is important to tell the school and provide a reason for your child’s absence. To explain an absence, parents and carers are required to:

• log into the Compass parent portal and enter an explanation

All absences must be explained to the school. Schools are legally required to keep an accurate record of attendance. The New South Wales Department of Education and Communities may take further action in cases where children of compulsory school age have recurring numbers of unjustified absences from school.

Adding a Note or Approval

You can enter notes and approvals in advance, if you know your child is going to be absent from school. To do this go to your Home page and click on the 'Add Attendance Note/Approval' link listed underneath the name of the relevant student. This will take you to the Attendance screen, with a pop-up window to enter details of the note or approval. You can then select the applicable date range.  If the leave is greater than 5 days you will still require Principal approval.

You can also approve your child's unapproved absences or late arrivals. You will receive an alert on your Compass home page letting you know that your child/ren was marked late or absent and there is no note/approval on the system for it. Clicking on this notification will allow you to add a Note or Approval for one or more absences.

Choose the absent reason type from the dropdown list and a comment or further details. Please note that you cannot edit the notes or approvals once they've been saved, and you will need to contact the school if changes need to be made.