Last Updated: 2026-10-26
Students must come to school every day the school is open. This is known as regular attendance.
Students are more likely to want to come to school and achieve if they feel:
- included
- valued
- respected
- supported.
Students who miss school often
The attendance policy defines the following groups of students as at risk because of how often they miss school.
- Habitual non-attendance: a student misses 5 to 9 school days in a term. This is for any reason.
- Chronic non-attendance: a student misses 10 or more days in a term. This is for any reason.
For students in these groups, we assess the level of risk to their learning and wellbeing. When a student is at risk we will talk with the family about the issues.
Our school's vision
All students have a right to an education. This gives them the best opportunity to reach their full potential. We have a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment where students can learn and grow. Each student is engaged in their learning. Parents and carers are important partners in this process. We keep a check on any students who might fall behind. We work with parents, carers and students to find out why someone is missing school. We provide supports that are specific to each student’s needs.
How we follow up if a student misses school
Teacher's will contact parents/carers directly if students are absent without any reason for the absence.
- If a student misses school, we record their absence. We also record the reason given by the parent or carer.
- If we receive no reason, we follow up with the parent or carer. This is usually by phone or text (SMS).
- If the absences continue or there are concerns raised by the absence, we keep following up. This might be by phone, email, meeting or a letter.
- We support the family to look at any issues that stop the student from going to school.
- If needed, we connect the family to other services. For example student support services.
Our data
At Woomera Area School our student attendance records help us to plan how we improve school attendance.
We routinely analyse data. We look at patterns. For example the attendance of different year levels. We also look at individual student attendance.
Our attendance rate has decreased slightly since 2018. This might be due to extended holiday time taken by defence personnel and their families either before of after school holiday time. This affects up to 50% of our student cohort at times and on a regular basis. Some families return home at school holiday times (usually interstate) and often take an extra week for travel or visiting purposes. It is a common practice in Defence Force towns and does impact on school attendance. Parents forewarn us generally but absence for family reasons count toward general absence data and can have a major impact on small, rural schools. In 2018 / 2019, Defence children made up over 60% of the total student cohort, explaining the drop in attendance for those two years, from 2017.
Our approach to improving attendance
At Woomera Area School our attendance strategies are guided by the South Australian Department for Education's attendance policy.
We will plan, implement and review the following attendance improvement actions. We will do this with our governing council, staff, students, families and local community.
Promote
We will promote the importance of education from the earliest years of life and throughout the schooling years as a school community priority of the highest value.
Our actions
Assess
We will assess patterns of non-attendance and circumstances. We will use this to inform the development of appropriate targeted, intensive and coordinated interventions.
Our actions
Engage
We will actively engage and include all children, young people and their families in education and interventions which support attendance.
Our actions
Support
We will provide support to address the barriers to attendance, learning and wellbeing. We will make sure there is inclusive support for children and young people so they can be physically present and engaged in education.
Our actions
Monitor
We will monitor attendance to make sure that risks are identified, supports are in place, and progress is monitored.
Our actions
Evaluate
We will evaluate the need for further or ongoing interventions, referrals for external support and mandatory notifications.
