LEAVE FOR FAMILY HOLIDAYS
John Therry follows the system attendance policy, which is designed to support all students in attending school regularly. The policy provides clear guidelines for managing attendance, and I would like to outline the requirements around holidays, as we understand there has been some confusion and concern in this area.
We recognise that, at times, families may need to take leave during the school term for important family events such as weddings, funerals, reunions, or other significant occasions. In some cases, these events may involve overseas travel. If the absence for these events is longer than 10 days, Compass will automatically generate an exemption from attendance request. In extenuating circumstances, and for significant family events such as weddings or funerals, the Principal has the authority to approve this leave. While this will still be recorded as an absence, it will be marked as approved leave.
The policy states that any leave over 10 days that is for holiday only, is unable to be approved by the Principal as approved leave, and must be recorded as an unexplained absence. I appreciate this may cause some concern for parents and I want to clarify that this does not mean that we do not expect you not to take this holiday. We appreciate that parents are the primary educators of their children and that there can be significant value in a family holiday. The ideal scenario is that these are taken in school holidays, but we understand this cannot always happen. While this is listed as an unexplained absence, and leave will not be approved, we understand that you will have made a considered decision and we fully expect that you will attend this holiday with your family. Students will be requested to make arrangements for assessment tasks before leaving and would be expected to catch up on missed work on return.
Year 12 is the only year group that can be more problematic, as missing tasks can have a more significant impacts on their HSC results, and in some cases such as not sitting the HSC exam, may make students ineligible for the HSC. If considering taking a holiday during Year 12, please contact Mr McAllister or Mrs Ramchandra to discuss.