Attendance shortage — first warning notices issued

First warning notices have been issued to 38 students whose attendance has fallen below 60 per cent this term.

A student needs 75 per cent attendance to be sent up for the Board examination. That is the Department's rule and this college cannot waive it.

We know why attendance drops here. Families need hands at harvest, buses do not come, a younger sibling falls ill and somebody has to stay. None of that is laziness and none of it is going to be treated as laziness. But it is also not going to make the rule go away, and a student who discovers in February that they cannot sit the examination has lost a year for a reason that could have been dealt with in September.

So: if you have a notice, come to your department head this week. If you know your attendance is slipping and you have not had a notice yet, come anyway. There are things we can do — extra classes, adjusted practical timings, a word with the parents if that would help — and all of them work better in September than in February.

Parents of the 38 students have been written to as well.