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Attendance Policy (Draft #4) Regular attendance is a vital part of the learning process, and improves the opportunity for success. Persistent absenteeism disrupts the process and content of learning, and the sequence of instruction, as well as having a negative effect upon a student's evaluation process. The student must be made aware of the serious effects that absenteeism will have on his/her progress and success (e.g., low marks, or denial of credit). Unnecessary absenteeism is not tolerated in the workforce for which the student is preparing during his/her school years. Every effort must be made to attend school regularly, and to attend all classes when at school. The student must account to the school for his/her whereabouts throughout the entire school day. Absences The following are legitimate reasons for student absence: illness; medical appointments; bereavement/compassion; inclement weather; family emergency; religious holidays; longhouse; subpoena; school sponsored event; college/university visit.
Students and parent(s)/guardian(s) are reminded that all absences must be documented. Until such written documentation is provided to the school, the absence is NOT considered to be legitimate. Students are responsible for catching up on all work missed during an absence and for making arrangements with teachers to complete missed assessments. Students are strongly advised to make these arrangements in advance where possible.
Communication with parent(s)/guardians(s) Students, together with their parent(s)/guardian(s) are responsible for the student's attendance at school and his/her adherence to attendance procedures. The teachers and school administration are responsible for supporting parent(s)/guardian(s) in these efforts . The greatest service that teachers and the school can do to ensure good attendance is to communicate any concerns around attendance to parent(s)/guardian(s). When a student is away for a day, or a part of a day, the school utilizes a "Synervoice" messaging system over the telephone to report absences to parent(s)/guardian(s). Teachers, and the student's Teacher Advisor should be communicating any concerns around attendance to parent(s)/guardian(s) as soon as these concerns surface, and should be continuing to communicate with the home on an ongoing basis in order to deal with these concerns. The school administration will involve parent(s)/guardian(s) as early and often as possible to address any serious attendance concerns.
Notes Notes are to include the date of the absence, the reason for the absence, and the parent'(s)/guardian'(s) signature. When students know that they will be away in advance, they are to bring their notes to the attendance secretary in the office prior to the absence. For all other absences, students are to bring a note in the day following their absence. This note is to be given to his/her TAP teacher. Failure to bring in a note will result in the absence being considered a truancy. Forgery of signatures on notes is a serious concern and will be dealt with as a discipline issue by the school administration. Forgery will lead to consequences up to and including suspension from school.
Late Arrival to School When a student arrives late to school they must sign in at the office. When signing in the student will be asked to provide a note to the office indicating why he/she is arriving late. If the note is not provided at that point, it must be brought in the following day.
Late Arrival to Class One of the important habits that employers expect employees to demonstrate is punctuality, and as such, HSS attempts to develop punctuality in its students. Students are expected to be on time for all their classes. If a pattern of tardiness develops, the teacher will inform, counsel, and consequence students and will contact parent(s)/guardian(s). Where this process does not lead to improvement, the student will be referred to the Vice Principal. Using progressive discipline, the Vice Principal will work with the student to improve the tardy behaviour. Continued tardiness may result in consequences up to and including suspension from school.
Early Leaving from School The school is responsible to parents/guardians for the whereabouts of their children through the school day. If a student must leave school early (e.g., for an appointment) the student must come to the office before school, the day of the absence, with a note explaining why he/she must leave. If a student must leave during the school day (i.e., because of illness, injury), he/she must report to the office. At this point the office will attempt to reach parent(s)/guardian(s) in order to get permission for the student to leave school. Failure to sign out during the day is a disciplinary concern and will be dealt with as such.
Truancy If a student is caught skipping class, or fails to provide a note indicating a legitimate reason for absence, the absence is considered to be a truancy. Truancy is a serious concern and will be dealt with as such. Academically, truancy results in the student missing instruction in class. As well, truancy may result in the student missing some assessments in class. Therefore, the student will have missed the opportunity to demonstrate achievement in that class and overall achievement in the class will suffer. Truancy will result in disciplinary action including counselling, and detentions. As well, parents will be informed of repeated truancy. Persistent truancy will lead to increased consequences such as in-school suspensions and out of school suspensions. If persistent truancy continues, alternative educational options may be recommended to the student and his/her parent(s)/guardian(s).
Attendance in TAP The Teacher Advisor Program (TAP) is a provincially mandated program that all high school students are expected to participate fully in. There are many purposes to TAP (see "What Happens in TAP at HSS" for detail). Primarily, each student has a Teacher-Advisor assigned to him/her, ideally for his/her full length of time at HSS , and this teacher serves as a point of contact for parent(s)/guardian(s). The TAP teacher also may serve to provide guidance to the student in important decisions such as course selection, and may assist in dealing with concerns such as attendance. The TAP teacher is also used by others in the school such as the administration and guidance as the primary way to communicate to the student. Attendance in TAP is mandatory and absences from TAP are dealt with in the same manner as absences in other classes that the student has as part of his/her timetable. Similarily, truancies from TAP are subject to the same consequences as truancies from the other classes on the student's schedule.
Prolonged Periods of Absence If the student is to be absent for a prolonged period of time for legitimate reasons, the parent(s)/guardian(s) should contact the Vice Principal or the Attendance Secretary indicating the reason for the absence. The teachers will be asked to provide work for the student to complete during this absence. The student will then be able to keep somewhat up-to-date on missed work.
Presence in Class Students are expected to remain in class, or to have their teacher's clear permission to be elsewhere. If it is necessary for the student to be elsewhere he/she must carry a hall pass with them, and have this hall pass visible at all times. If a student is out of a teacher's class without permission, or is taking an unnecessary amount of time out of the classroom, or is somewhere other than where he/she has been given permission to be, disciplinary action will be taken by the teacher. If this behaviour persists in spite of this disciplinary action, the student will be referred to the Vice Principal.
Discipline Related to Attendance Concerns Students are expected to abide by this attendance policy. This includes having regular attendance at school, and following attendance procedures. Wherever possible HSS will work with the student and parent(s)/guardian(s) to provide whatever supports are available which may assist students in developing positive attendance habits. Sometimes, in spite of these supports that are offered, a student may continue to demonstrate poor attendance habits. These habits have a negative impact on his/her achievement. As well, these habits have a negative impact on the learning environment of others in the school. At this point, it will become necessary for consequences to be imposed in an effort to correct these behaviours. These consequences will be progressive in nature and may ultimately include out of school suspensions. Occasionally, attendance habits are so poor that it may be in the student's best long-term interest to find an alternative educational option or to withdraw from school on a temporary basis.
Attendance and Assessment/Evaluation Students must demonstrate to teachers an acceptable level of achievement of expectations in order to be granted a credit in a course. If a student is away for assessments they may lose the opportunity to demonstrate such achievement. Failure on the part of a student to consistently demonstrate achievement of a significant number of expectations will result in the student NOT being granted the course credit. |
