Mrs Sonya Ensoll - Guidance officer

Dear parents, carers and school community members,

Welcome back to another school year. We look forward to a happy and successful partnership with our school in 2025.

Attendance

Attendance is vital for student success at school. Not only does it encourage a greater chance of success in acquiring academic, sporting, musical, leadership and socialisation skills as scholars, it also builds skills that allow our students to grow, flourish and develop as wonderful human beings; it develops qualities that include resilience, co-operation, empathy and persistence, to name but a few.

“Attend every day” is included in our 2025 REP matrix – it forms part of the “Engaged” core behaviour expectation for all students. We do, however, understand that for a multitude of reasons that may include medical/specialist appointments, family emergencies and student mental health challenges, attendance on occasions may not be possible. In these instances, we just ask that you let us know (as far in advance as possible) of reasons for your student’s absence so we can update school records and offer appropriate assistance. You can also advise us of reasons for absence by:

• Replying directly to the text you receive from school which asks for a reason for absence that day
• Send an email to absence@stanthorpeshs.eq.edu.au

 Please do not hesitate to ring the office if you need assistance with your student’s attendance – we have wonderful staff here who would be more than happy to assist, for example the relevant Year Level  Co-Ordinator or myself.

This term we are launching a wonderful initiative – ARM – which stands for Attendance Really Matters. Yes, for many reasons – it really does. As part of this initiative, each week a new attendance poster features in the Student Notices. Our students will see them on school noticeboards and referred to in class-time and assemblies. This term in Weeks 4-8, we are offering our students the chance to vote on an ARM logo that will accompany any future ARM promotion. Any student that completes a vote will go into a draw to win a prize (1 x Junior and 1 x Senior). 

What can you do to help your student attend school more often?

• Be positive about them attending school. Remind them of some of the benefits of coming.
• Get them to bed on time (where able). A good night’s sleep (between 8-10 hours) will set them up for feeling rested enough to get ready for school in the morning.
• Encourage your young person to get organised when they get home from school – lunch out, books swapped, timetable checked.
• Seek support if non-attendance is becoming a problem. Our Student Support Services Team are happy to assist you.

Thanks for all you do to support your child in their education by getting them here each day as attendance really matters.

Sonia Ensoll – Guidance Officer – smain0@eq.edu.au