Thanks to everyone for your assistance in getting students through the school gates each morning! We know it’s different for everyone, but we appreciate all that you do make sure your teenager is here, ready to learn.
A big shout-out to parents and caregivers who follow our clear guidelines and procedures for absences, including student sickness.
We really appreciate your earliest advice if a student will be absent from school, it makes things easier to manage at this end. We also appreciate parents and caregivers who make the hard call sometimes to say: “you’re not well enough to go to school.” So thanks for keeping our student body as healthy as possible as we enter the traditional flu season. If you need guidance on when it is appropriate to stay home, please refer to our earlier wellness articles.
For those of you that are struggling to get your student to school, please remember that the term break offers an opportunity for a fresh start. Please keep talking to us if you have difficulties. We are required to share attendance letters with you, when thresholds are met, but we really value the communication and conversations.
A reminder that attending school regularly ensures that we can support each student to achieve academically, access extracurricular opportunities and build positive relationships. A day away not only impacts your student learning but affects others in class, particularly when working on group projects or collaborative tasks.
The image below outlines the impact time away can have on learning:
A reminder of our absence reporting process
If your teen is going to be absent, for any reason, it is essential that you let us know as soon as possible, to avoid an unexplained absence.
It is important that you phone the school, send us an email or message us to confirm your teen’s absence and provide us with the reason. We acknowledge that there are genuine reasons students may occasionally be absent. We require the following from you:
*Your name
*Your child’s name and student number
*Reason for absence (saying ‘away today’ is insufficient)
*When your child is likely to return
School phone number: 03 3588383
Email: Absences@burnside.school.nz
Text: 0220436951
If you have any questions about this information please contact your dean. Thank you for your continued support.
