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Attendance

ATTENDANCE
Nicholson Catholic College believes that regular attendance promotes student learning, demonstrates a commitment to the achievement of the Ontario Graduate Expectations and is essential for the student’s overall success.

Regular attendance promotes:

• Successful demonstration of the achievement of the Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations and individual course expectations.
• High academic achievement. Since assessment is based on the student’s overall level of performance, regular attendance provides the student an opportunity to demonstrate achievement of course expectations at a high level in all four categories of assessment.
• The opportunity for regular assessment and useful feedback on a student’s performance.  This encourages development and growth in the learning process.
• Accurate assessment of the learning skills set.

Regular attendance demonstrates a commitment to lifelong learning and establishes a learning environment that is accountable, collaborative, equitable and holistic.

Attendance Responsibilities:

• Students, parents and Board staff share a responsibility for regular attendance.
• Where, in the principal’s judgment, a student’s frequent absences from school are jeopardizing his or her successful completion of a course, school staff should meet with the student and the parents or notify them in writing to explain the potential consequences of the absences, including failure to gain credits, and discuss steps that could be taken to improve attendance. Excessive absences may lead to the student’s inability to achieve the course expectations and result in loss of a credit. (According to Ontario Secondary Schools, Grades 9 to 12, a credit is granted by a principal on behalf of the Minister of Education and Training in recognition of a course that has been scheduled for a minimum of 110 hours.)
• Students have a responsibility for regular and punctual attendance. This includes both classes and scheduled school activities.
• Parents of students under 18 years of age are required to contact the school regarding a student absence. Preferably, notice is given prior to the absence; in other cases, a written, signed parental note upon the student’s return to school is required. Students 18 and over who have exercised their rights related to “protection of privacy” legislation have the same obligation as parents.
• Where any absence results in a summative evaluation being missed, the teacher will record an “I”. Incomplete assignments will be considered when determining the student’s overall grade at reporting time.

ATTENDANCE POLICY
Nicholson Catholic College has a 5-10-15 attendance policy. All students are informed at the beginning of each course that 15 absences in a course may result in the loss or deferral of the credit as the learning and assessment of all course curriculum expectations may not be complete. Frequent absences jeopardize the student’s ability to demonstrate achievement of all course expectations in all four categories of assessment and make the gathering of evidence to assess all course expectations in order to determine a fair and justifiable grade problematic. The 5-10-15 attendance policy is for absences resulting from withdrawal from class due to lateness and/or being out of uniform, illness, vacations, appointments or parent withdrawal. Curricular absences due to school activities (retreats, field trips, athletics) are not included in the 5-10-15 attendance totals for loss or deferral of credit.

When students are on school premises, they are to be in attendance in each of their scheduled classes, otherwise they are considered to be truant.

Although trips and vacations may provide diverse learning experiences, the school does not support, academically, travel or vacations during class time. The Education Act is explicit when explaining school attendance and the legitimate reasons for school absence. Students may be absent from school because they are ill, other unavoidable causes, celebrating a religious holiday or receiving music instruction. Extended vacations are not included in these reasons. Therefore, while parents/guardians may choose to travel during the school year, the time missed from class is recorded as an absence and counted in the total absence record for the semester. A significant number of absences place a student’s mark in jeopardy due to the loss of instructional time and assessment and evaluation becomes problematic. Nicholson Catholic College teachers will not be responsible for producing work assignments or providing make-up assignments, tests or exams for students. All notification of absence due to vacation or family trip must be submitted in writing to the Principal or Vice-Principal.

Students are responsible for all course work and assignments while absent. When a test is missed due to illness, a note from a parent/guardian acknowledging his/her awareness that a test has been missed, due to illness, is required. In addition, a doctor’s note may also be required at the discretion of the administration. When missing an examination due to illness, a doctor’s note is always required. Any examination or test missed due to vacation or truancy will not be rescheduled, and will be assigned a mark of incomplete (I).

Please bring all notes pertaining to attendance to the Attendance Office prior to the start of period 1. A forged note or falsified phone call will result in automatic suspension for “conduct injurious to the moral tone of the school.”

EARLY DISMISSAL
If a student must leave school during the day, a note of explanation from a parent or guardian, or yourself if 18 years of age or older, requesting early dismissal is to be presented to the Attendance Secretary before school begins. A dismissal slip will be given for the appropriate time and the student must present this slip to the subject teacher at the beginning of his/her last class.

ILLNESS DURING CLASS TIME
If you become ill during class, ask permission of your subject teacher to leave the room. You must report to the Attendance Secretary immediately who will arrange for you to phone your parents, go to the sick room or go home.
Note:  School personnel are not authorized to dispense medication (e.g., Aspirin, etc.).

LATES
If you arrive to school after period one has started, due to an early morning appointment or other legitimate reason, you must come to the Attendance Office in order to receive an admit slip.

If you are late during the first 20 minutes of any class without a legitimate reason, you are to go directly to the class and the matter will be dealt with by your teacher. From 1 - 5 lates in a particular class, your parents will be informed by the classroom teacher. On your 6th late to this class, you will be sent to the VP’s office and will not be allowed to attend that particular class that day. Students will not be allowed into class if they are more than 20 minutes late without a legitimate excuse. Such students are to report to the Attendance Office.