27 May 2022
Term 2 start
I would like to start by thanking our amazing teachers who this year have been working incredibly hard to ensure continuity of quality education for our students. COVID related staff absence is a current issue in every industry including ours. Despite this impact, the staff at Mount View continue to deliver quality teaching and learning whilst providing valuable support to the casual teaching staff that fill the gaps. In amongst this we have been getting on with delivering supporting programs and opportunities like our recent Year 5 and 6 transition days and sporting opportunities where our Netball and Futsal teams have been able to demonstrate their sporting excellence. I am continued to be impressed by the tenacity and resilience of staff and students alike that make our school a wonderful place to be each and every day.
Mobile phone use and school routines and expectations
Mount View High School staff have been heavily focused on establishing three school wide expectations and routines this year: Routine for entering class; Routine for ready to learn; Routine for respectful language. Mobile phones are an issue for some students and can impact on their ability to engage in learning. On occasion, it has been noted that parents are contacting their child by ringing or messaging them during the school day including in lesson time. Unless otherwise directed by teachers, students are required to have their phones off and away during learning time.
If parents or guardians need to collect their child from school, they must always contact the front office . Our process for recording student leave must be through direct communication between the school and parents. I would ask that parents refrain from contacting their child during the school day at all. If it is absolutely necessary that you contact your child on their phone, please do so only during break times. The school day times are published below for your reference.
Mount View High School class routine and expectations.
- Routine to enter class
- Two lines outside the classroom
- Teacher welcomes students at the door as they enter the class
- Routine for ready to learn
- Students place bag in designated place
- Students sit in the teacher directed seating plan
- Students have the correct equipment out
- Mobile Phone’s are off and in bags. Ear buds out and away.
- Routine for respectful language
- Teachers will remind students on every occasion that it is important to use appropriate language at all times in the school setting
Senior students leaving at break
I will be discussing with Senior students the requirement to remain on school grounds during the day. Senior students do not have permission to exit the school during breaks. Teachers cannot maintain their duty of care when a student exits the school. Any student needing to exit school for any reason needs to follow the leave process and seek an early leavers pass from the attendance office with the appropriate parent permission note.
Uniform
As the weather gets colder, may I remind all parents about the importance of students being in full school uniform every day. Two great cold weather options available at Lowes and Flannagans are the soft shell jacket and the junior rugby jumper. If neither of these suit, students can also wear a plain grey jumper. Plain black track pants are also a suitable winter uniform option.
Attendance
I am conscious that COVID isolation requirements are working against our collective efforts to improve attendance and that for some families this has had an impact on their child's attendance rate. Having said that, it is more important now than ever to be conscious about the impact that absence has on educational outcomes. Our 5 weekly attendance reports aim to keep parents informed about current attendance patterns and provide them with a chance to address any concerns and minimise absence impact.
Throughout 2022, students who have isolated due to being a household contact were marked as on “Leave”. Students whilst isolating due to the public health order (but not sick due to COVID) and continuing their learning via accessing the Google Classroom or classwork are eligible to have their attendance marked as “Flexible”. “Flexible” leave does not count against a student’s attendance tally on attendance reports. If this applies to your student and you would like us to review your child’s attendance please complete the following form https://forms.gle/87s3ehXtKrceTU766
Research highlights a clear correlation between student attendance and the achievement of quality academic, socio-economic and health outcomes. This research tells us that students with an attendance rate below 90% are educationally at risk. At Mount View High School students with an annual attendance rate of 90% will miss 118 individual lessons. This is the equivalent of almost missing 20 school days or 4 school weeks.
At Mount View High School we have implemented strategies to improve student growth and attainment, the quality of learning and instruction and student wellbeing. All of these strategies rely on students being present at school to have maximum impact and they, of course, do not have the same effect when we have high student absence.
Our strategy to improve student attendance at Mount View High School includes but is not limited to:
High expectations - Student attendance rates are expected to be above 95% at Mount View High School.
Quality systems and processes - Mount View High School is committed to providing accurate real time attendance information to parents and students. We do this through the daily attendance SMS, truancy identification and notification, 5 weekly attendance reporting and real time attendance monitoring through the Sentral Parent Portal.
Data systems - At Mount View High School in 2022 we are marking class rolls every lesson and checking their accuracy when unexpected absences occur. We monitor school attendance against our attendance improvement targets every 5 weeks and report this back to parents.
Tiered Interventions - A tier system of interventions ensures that our approach to improving student attendance has aspects that target every student, including those who require early intervention and those who require intensive intervention.
Communication - Effective communication with students, parents and carers establishes expectations and builds productive partnerships that enhance student achievement.
