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School Program Makes Absence Less FondGippsland MP Peter Hall is greatly encouraged by the results of a Gippsland program to improve the attendance of students at school, and is urging students and parents to get behind a celebration of the achievements so far By Peter Hall - 2nd November 2005 - Back to News Mr Hall, The Nationals Education spokesman and a former school teacher himself said he appreciated the importance of the "It’s Not Ok to Be Away" program.
"Since the program started nearly two years ago, the average number of days absent per student in Gippsland fell from 12.5 in 2003 to 10.5 in 2004, an improvement of two full days," Mr Hall said. "That means from having the worst absence rates of any region in the state, Gippsland now has third best.
"If that is what can be achieved in the first couple of years, a continued concerted effort will see Gippsland ranked as one of the best regions in terms of student attendance," Mr Hall said.
The achievements to date will be celebrated with a range of activities during next week (7 November to 11 November) and again during a State-wide student ‘Attendance Awareness Week’ next February.
Mr Hall said the program had utilised a range of initiatives to improve attendance, including employment of attendance officers to follow up absences, using SMS text messaging for immediate information to parents, development of whole school attendance policies, surveys of students, parents and teachers, and regular information in school newsletters.
"I fully support the long term aims of the project, which include changing the culture so that everyone is aware of what better student attendance creates, and there is a higher level of understanding among the whole community of the importance of attending school," he said.
"Regular attendance is important to make sure learning is not disrupted, and also helps students develop important social skills, such as friendship building, teamwork and communication skills."
Mr Hall said the initiators of the program were to be congratulated, as were the students of Gippsland and their families, teachers and schools.
"This is a great program and shows Gippsland leading the way," he said. "I encourage everyone in the community – not just students and schools – to think about the program and if they can assist."
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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