Teaching not treats key to attendance

But an education expert from St Felix Catholic Primary School in Bankstown, says schools should be monitoring absenteeism right from the start and looking at ways to improve relationships between the teacher, student and their parents.
The practice of rewarding students just for turning up comes after Education Minister Sarah Mitchell set attendance targets in a pilot for 180 principals across the state.
The pilot focusses on the factors that influence attendance, strengthening school attendance procedures, monitoring the attendance data and raising expectations among school leadership teams.
St Felix Principal Fran Bonanno who is on the NESA Curriculum Committee and the Vice President of Catholic School Principals NSW, says that if a child is refusing to go to school or has trouble getting there, the school will swing into action.
“We look at why they find school daunting or feel overwhelmed,” she said.
“Sometimes it’s the parents who need help and that’s when an outside service can offer support.
“We can also link them with a counsellor and set up a positive behaviour plan but generally our kids love coming to school and we take pains to ensure that all feel welcomed, included and respected.”
Though not offering a reward system for attendance, the school makes a note of it on their report cards.
“You can’t substitute for the fact that quality teaching is itself a good reason to be at school,” Mrs Bonanno said.
Likewise St Brendans Bankstown Principal Maria Fernia has strategies in place to break the cycle of absenteeism but doesn’t offer an incentive system.
“If we identify a pattern emerging, we work with the family to work out a solution,” she said.
Condell Park Public Deputy Principal Mitchell King goes a step further after adopting the Positive Behaviour for Learning strategy several years ago where students can win a badge twice a term for being ‘safe’, ‘respectful’ or a ‘learner’.
“We’ve recently added ‘attendance’ to that list and gave the students a voice in how they wanted to be rewarded,” he said.
“So now if a student’s attendance is above 90 per cent, they also receive a wristband and this strategy has been very effective.”