For safety reasons the school requests parents and caregivers contact the school if your child is going to be absent.
Phone: (03) 541 8931
Please telephone the school office before 9.00am every day of your child’s absence.
Skool loop: This is our preferred way of notification as it is sent to the office and your child’s teacher directly. Download the skool loop app in your device’s app store and use the absentee form there. If you need help locating and downloading the app, please follow this link to Skool Loop
Absentees can be emailed directly to the office on firstname.lastname@example.org
When providing the school with information regarding your child being absent, or leaving early on any particular day, please ensure these details are directed to the office (rather than to your child’s teacher) so that the information can be recorded in the absentee register. We will then ensure this information is passed on to the teacher.
Remember, children’s progress at school is assisted by regular, punctual attendance.
Arrival Times, School Hours, After School Play – School Grounds
8.15am Children from the village arrive
8.40am First bus arrives
9.00am Start of School bell rung
9.05am Morning roll call in class
9.25am – 9.35am Read and Feed
10.30am – 10.50am Morning Play
10.50am – 11.00am Read and Lunch 1
11.50am – 12.00pm Play/Snack/Drink
1.00pm – 1.25pm Lunch Play
1.25pm – 1.45pm Lunch 2
3.00pm End of School bell rung
3.10pm First bus leaves
Bus students will arrive from 8.40am. All students not arriving on buses should arrive at school after 8.15am.
Before the school bell rings at 9.00am children are expected to:
Have dropped any notices and payments in the ‘drop box’ at the school office.
Hung up their bag in their classroom, placed any books and water bottles required for the day on their desk or table and be settled for the day.
After School Play and Arrangements
All children are expected to leave the school grounds and report in at home after school. The school does not offer any supervision after 3.00pm, except for bus students waiting for their scheduled bus.
If your child is involved in an activity after school on our grounds, or in the village, please ensure they are supervised by an adult while waiting for their activity to start.
You will notice yellow lines painted on the ground near most entry/exit points to the school. These lines signify to children that they cannot cross this point without an adult. If you ask your children to wait outside the school grounds or by the swimming pool after school this would put them “out of bounds”, so please remember you will need to collect your child from inside the school grounds.
Out of School Hours (Evenings, Weekends and School Holidays)
We welcome the school grounds being used under adult supervision after school, on weekends and during school holidays. If you are aware of anyone not showing care and consideration to school amenities please contact the local police station (Ph. 541 8210) for intentional damage, or if the matter is not urgent you can leave a message on the school answerphone (Ph. 541 8332)
Children under 14 years old need to be supervised. Pre-schoolers need to be supervised at all times when playing on the playground structure.
Smoke Free School
Wakefield School is a totally smoke free school therefore the school site and all school activities are smoke free.
Whole-school assemblies are held every Friday at 2.30pm in the school hall. Parents, caregivers and family members are encouraged to attend. All school assemblies are student-led and focus on celebrating learning and achievement. Some learning teams also hold their own assemblies and parents are notified of the days and times of these.
It is a legal responsibility for parents to ensure their children attend school whenever it is open for instruction. Family holidays and long weekends should be arranged during the school vacations. Children miss out on important learning opportunities and activities when they are absent. We do however acknowledge that there are times when your children will not be able to attend, particularly due to illness.
Wakefield School currently uses the following codes to record children’s absences for the Ministry of Education:
P – Present in class
L – Late – arrived after the school roll has been marked *see note below
M – Sick/Injured, unable to attend school
D – Doctor/Dentist appointment
Q – Attending a school trip/camp
A – Attending alternative education (One Day School, RDA)
O – Overseas
J – Justified Explained Absence
There are many occasions that fit into ‘Justified’ absence, some of these are; custody arrangements, sick relatives, funerals, arrival of new family members and relatives visiting from overseas. These are events that cannot be ‘planned for’ during weekends and term holidays.
G – Holiday During School Term
E – Unjustified but Explained Absence
T – Unjustified and Unexplained Absence/No Reason Given
Again there are many occasions that fit into ‘Unjustified’ absence, some of these are; family holidays and long weekends during term time, shopping and birthday events. These are events that should take place during weekends and term holidays. If you choose to take your child out of school for these activities it could be classed as ‘parental condoned truancy’.