School Attendance: Some useful information from CE

Compulsory school Age

In New South Wales, ‘compulsory school age’ means that all children from six years of age are legally required to be enrolled at and attending school or to be registered for home schooling. After they complete Year 10 and until they turn 17 years of age, students then have the following options.

They may also be in:

- full-time further education and training (e.g. TAFE, traineeship, apprenticeship);

- full-time, paid employment of an average of 25 hours per week;

or a combination of both.

Parents or Carers are responsible for making sure that their children comply with these legal requirements.

Schools support parents by monitoring student attendance and helping to address attendance issues when they emerge.

Parental Responsibility

What are the responsibilities of Parents?

Parents must ensure:

Their children of compulsory school age are enrolled in a government or registered non-government school or, they are registered with the NESA for Home Schooling.

Their children who are enrolled at school attend every day the school is open for their instruction.

They provide an explanation for absences by means such as a telephone call, written note, text message or email to the school within 7 days from the first day of any period of absence.

They work in partnership with the school to plan and implement strategies to support regular attendance at school, including communicating with the school if they are aware of issues impacting on their child’s attendance or engagement with school.

The following graphic places in context the impact that absences can have on a child’s education. At Sacred Heart we always endeavour to work with families to help with ensuring their children can attend school every day. Should you have any concerns around school attendance please contact me at school.

Kind regards

Mrs Katie Thompson