I’m a teacher
Tips on how teachers can support their students to maintain regular student attendance.
Need to know
- Schools, along with families and carers, are responsible for promoting regular student attendance.
- Teachers can help support their students to turn up every day in many ways.
- Knowing your role in supporting your school’s attendance procedure helps students and their families.
- Improving attendance is a shared responsibility
Improving regular school attendance is a core school priority and responsibility.
As a teacher, you make a difference every single day by empowering students to reach their full potential.
How do teachers support school attendance?
As a teacher, you support student attendance by:
- Building and keeping good relationships with students. Creating environments to help ensure they are known, safe, well and learning. This can help you to recognise the signs when a student may be struggling and needs some extra support.
- Knowing your role in supporting your school’s attendance procedure.
- Maintaining accurate attendance records.
- Monitoring and following up student absences.
- Addressing the learning needs for students with attendance concerns. This might involve working with professional support staff to best support students.
- Speaking with your school principal about attendance concerns. This is even more important when there are concerns for the wellbeing of safety of a student.
- Raising attendance concerns with your Student Support and Wellbeing Team.
- Ensuring Child Safety Service supports are engaged for any matter relating to school attendance where there are concerns for the wellbeing or safety of a student.
- Reading the attendance scenarios for examples of common attendance situations and the recommended actions.
- Exploring the range of resources available to support improved attendance through a multi-tiered system of supports in your school.
- Accessing roll marking resources that are available to you. Ensure you are aware of the roll marking procedures for your school.
If you are a teacher for DECYP, you can also:
- Familiarise yourself with the DECYP Attendance Policy [PDF,212KB] and DECYP Attendance Procedure (staff only).
- Explore the new Attendance Knowledge Hub (staff only) for more supporting information.
