School Attendance

Every Day Counts!

1 day = 8/9 classes or approx. 6 hours of class time

5 days = 42 classes or 28 hours of class time

1 day a week = approx. 297 classes a year (198 hours)

If you are concerned about your son/daughter's attendance please contact Glen Burke who is the Home School Liaison Teacher and she will support both you and you child with a view to improving attendance. Once back in school the School Completion Programme under Deirdre Foley can work with your son/daughter to help them cope with and settle back into school. Both will continue their support until such time as they are no longer required.

The Impact of poor attendance on Students:

1. Lower Academic Attainment

• Students who are absent regularly can find it difficult to keep up with topics in subjects and this leads to feelings of being overwhelmed. Feelings of being overwhelmed encourages students to stay away more as it is easier to avoid these feelings. This causes students to miss a whole collection of important material in school resulting in poorer results in exams.

2. Social Impacts

• Being absent from school leads to a sense of isolation from their friends and over time they drift apart as they have different experiences and interests. This further worsens the situation for the poor attender. It can also open up the person to anxiety and depression.
• Miss out on important social skills such as how to work and function within a group environment, and how to behave within social boundaries. The school environment also exposes us to people of many different ethnicities, personalities and to many different points of view. Therefore, there is a risk that a person who leaves school early will be deficient of the skill-set needed to participate in society to their full potential.

3. Early School Leaving

• A mixture of isolation and a sense of being overwhelmed often leads to early school leaving.
• Numerous studies have shown that early school leaving increases the risk of long-term poverty and unemployment. Early school leavers are the most vulnerable people in the labour market and often the first to be made unemployed in bad times. They also struggle to compete for positions as the Leaving Cert. or equivalent has become the standard qualification required.

How can parents/guardians help?

• Make sure your son/daughter know you do not agree with them missing school. Do not excuse them from school unless for valid reasons. No matter what the school will do, parental support is the key to good attendance. Teenagers may not admit it but parents do influence them!!
• Let the school know If your son/daughter is sick
• Encourage and praise your children
• Take an interest in what your son/daughter is doing in school – their progress, homework, parent teacher meetings and other school functions. If you are interested they are encouraged by this.
• Help your children get organized for the day –uniforms/books/lunch
• Ensure your children have enough rest and a definite bedtime

School Attendance and the Law

Under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000 parents are responsible for making sure their child receives an education. The law also says that every child between the ages of 6 and 16 must attend school or otherwise receive an education.

What should I do if my child cannot go to school?

You must tell the school that your child cannot attend and say why. Write a short note to the school to explain why your child was out of school and send it in with your child when they go back to school. Generally, there are good reasons why a child is missing school (e.g. illness).

What will the school do if my child misses a lot of school?

The school must tell the statutory Educational Welfare Services of the Child and Family Agency (TUSLA) if your child has missed 20 days or more in the school year, or if it is concerned that your child is missing too much school. In this situation, an Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) will work with the school and may visit you to see how we can help to make sure that your child attends school more often. Parents who refuse to co-operate with the EWO regarding their child’s school attendance can be taken to court and fined or imprisoned.