We believe in building safe, caring environments for all members of the school community, and building strong, positive connections with our students’ families. An outcome of this work is establishing trusting, resilient relationships between families and our staff. We believe that adult family members are responsible for ensuring their children attend school regularly, 5 days per week, at the primary level.
Just like in learning, attendance is personalized to the student and their family. As a staff, we place a strong focus on experiential learning for all students to promote and foster positive conditions for learning.
Research tells us that students who miss 10% of school, are at an increased risk of learning loss, feelings of anxiety, and a reduction in connections and relationships at school. As a team, we work with families to ensure students have a less than 5% absence rate. When students are absent 10% or more, the following protocols are in place.
- Attendance information goes out to families regularly in school newsletters.
- The administrative assistant contacts all families daily if students are away for unknown reasons.
- If a child misses the next day (2 days in one week), the teacher does a check in with the family (phone call, Seesaw message, or email) to check in.
- Teachers connect with Principal, IESW, Learning Services teacher, or Youth Care Worker, based on the needs expressed by the family and who the student is connected to, at school.
- The principal completes monthly attendance tracking to determine students who are absent 10% or greater.
- Principal follows up with classroom teacher and administrative assistance to determine the reasons for that month’s absences.
- Teachers are informed which students in their class have higher than 10% absence that month.
- Students with chronic absenteeism will be invited to a SBT meeting with their family to help address underlying barriers to regular attendance.
Chronic Absenteeism
Chronic absenteeism refers to long-term, regular, and/or repeated absences that can impact a students’ educational success and emotional/social wellbeing. Research says that missing 10% a year, equivalent to 2 days a month, is the threshold for chronic absenteeism.
We recognize, though, there is a difference between “chronic absenteeism” and occasional absences. Infrequent, short-term absences are to be expected due to (but not limited to):
- illness and recovery
- appointments
- special family events (e.g., vacations, cultural celebrations, travel to visit family, etc.)
- injuries or chronic illnesses
- participation in Indigenous cultural and traditional activities
Returning to Regular Attendance after Chronic Absenteeism
After a period of prolonged absences there may be gaps in learning. When students return to more regular attendance we will focus on strength-based approaches, meeting students where they are academically and socially to ensure that gaps in learning close to the best extent possible. We will do this in ways that do not impede current opportunities for growth (i.e., we will try to close gaps in past learning without causing new gaps to form).
We will act in ways that strengthen relationships and build resilience with children and their families to reduce the chances of future chronic absences.