Attendance / School Hours
School commences at 8.40am. Please note that your child should not arrive prior to 8.15am. For arrivals between 8.15am and 8.30am, all students must congregate in the Hall.
Our school day:
- Start of School: 8.40am
- Lunch : 11.10am to 11.50am
- Recess : 1.30pm to 1.50pm
- School finish: 2.50pm
We encourage you to assist your child by being punctual. Any student arriving after 8.40am must obtain a late pass from the Administration Office.
Punctuality at the end of the day is very important. If you are delayed by any unforeseen circumstance in collecting your child/ren in time, please ensure you call the Administration Office on 9413 1500 to help us manage your child/ren’s anxiety; thank you.
Have you been late lately?
Being late occasionally is part of life in our busy lives – everyone understands this!
However, habitual lateness causes a lot of problems for everyone.
At our school, like all schools, we are bound by the Education Act (1999) to record late arrival to class and the reason for it. This applies to all students from Kindy to Year 6. This inconveniences our staff and students in many ways – and it interrupts and takes time away from our focus on education. Children like to have a happy, smooth start to their day – and being on time positively supports their learning.
Being late impacts on children’s social and emotional wellbeing as well as their academic performance.
Students who are late to class often exhibit signs of anxiety that can be due to many things:
- They do not have time to make the transition from home to school calmly.
- They have no opportunity to get ready for the day, arranging their personal workspace how they like it to be.
- They do not have time to carry out the essential routines that help students settle in to class in the morning – water bottle, crunch n sip, reading book, homework folder…
- They do not have time to reconnect with their friends and re-establish social bonds.
- They feel ‘looked at’ and ‘noticed’ in a negative way – even if that is not the intention by teachers and classmates, that is what many students report they feel.
Students who are late to class risk poor academic achievement:
- They do not develop positive learning routines
- They lack a crucial opportunity to become independent
- They miss a chance to organise themselves in action and mind
- They miss learning warm-ups
- They miss learning revisions
- They miss joining in the educational games that all the other students play once their desk is ready for the day – the teachers plan literacy and numeracy games or learning provocations first thing in the morning, designed to gently reactivate learning pathways and prepare brains for learning.
Let’s all work together to be on time:
- Set the alarm a few minutes earlier 🙂
- Let the children enjoy the fun times in the hall 8.15 – 8:30am 🙂
- Be prepared to wait for a late pass if the bell has gone and your child is not in class – being on time saves time 🙂
- Have your reason ready to give to the front office staff – with a smile 🙂
Changing schools: Extra days off between changing schools
Moving between schools can be an opportune time for a “little break” from school but getting students quickly to their new school is very important so that new routines and friendships are established quickly and learning is not missed. Regardless of how many schools are attended, student data is tracked by the Department of Education every day and these absences remain on student records until they leave in Year 12. Make the move quickly to benefit your children!
Extended vacation time or not returning to Tuart Hill Primary School the following year?
If your child will not be commencing school the following year due to a vacation, please notify the office in writing prior to your last day this year.
If your child is not returning to Tuart Hill Primary School next year, please advise the following information in writing to the front office as soon as possible:
- Child’s name, current year and room number
- Reason for not returning
- The name of the school your child will be attending the following year (if known)
Or click here to access a form which can be completed and returned to the front office.
Absences
At Tuart Hill Primary we provide you with several ways to advise us of your child’s absence.
You may:
- SMS 0417 931 262 to send a text message prior to 11am.
- complete the form here
- phone 9413 1500 if you wish to speak to an Administration staff member
Please ensure all absences are accompanied with a reason as to why your child is not able to attend school.
For further information, click on the following link to view our Student Attendance flyer and the responsibilities of Parents and Caregivers: Tuart Hill Attendance Brochure for Parents
Every Day Counts!
Education for your child is important and regular attendance at school is essential for your child to achieve their educational best and increase their career and life options. Western Australian public schools work in partnership with parents to encourage and support regular attendance of children and young people. When your child attends school every day, learning becomes easier and your child will build and maintain friendships with other children.
At Tuart Hill Primary School, we are striving to increase the attendance of all students to make sure we can provide them with every opportunity to succeed.
The Telethon Institute for Child Health Research report, Student Attendance and Educational Outcomes; Every Day Counts on Western Australian students clearly shows that every day counts in terms of a student’s achievement and that those students who miss any school have reduced academic outcomes compared with those who attend regularly.
The impact of absence on achievement is greatest for students who are already at educational disadvantage.
Unauthorised absences have a greater negative impact on student achievement than authorised absences.
Being half an hour late to school each day from Year 1 to Year 10 is approximately equivalent to missing one year of schooling.
A student who is absent 1 day a fortnight will, by Year 9, have missed 1 year of schooling.
The negative effect of absence on achievement is cumulative over the course of a student’s attendance career.
Developing the habit of going to school every day is vitally important for children to develop important ideas, concepts, knowledge and skills for future independent learning. In the early years many concepts, such as literacy and numeracy, are taught in a particular sequence. Attending school daily builds a solid knowledge and skills base for each phase of learning, and it is very difficult to catch up what has been missed due to absence.
