Attendance Policy
The goal of this policy is to support and encourage students to make regular attendance a priority here at KSS. It is our belief that every student at K.S.S. has the opportunity to achieve success. Regular attendance is a critical component of that success, and requires the partnership of the student, their parent/guardian, and the school.
Note: The School Act (Article 3) requires that all children who reside in British Columbia must participate in an educational program provided by the Board until he or she reaches the age of 16 years.
In the current environment, expectations are in place for teachers to provide instruction which brings content and skills to students in ways that assist in, enhance and expand their learning. In the modern classroom a significant number of learning outcomes are not completed or assessed through paper assignments and activities alone. If the student is not in the class, he or she misses not only all of the instruction and explanation designed to facilitate student learning, but many required learning outcomes as well. Given enough absences, in many courses the required elements of the course cannot be met, regardless of what the student tries to take on at home by way of make-up work. An absence is an absence, regardless of the reason. Each absence results in a lost learning opportunity in the classroom, which may not be regained.
Our experience tells us that students who miss large numbers of classes are at a significantly increased risk of lower academic performance, and thus put their graduation in jeopardy. This policy is aimed at aiding academic success by making transparent the structures in place used to monitor regular attendance, structures that require the participation of students, their guardians, and school staff.
Attendance Procedures
At K.S.S., in-class attendance is expected. Notes are not accepted to excuse absences or to sign out.
Parents/Guardians are required to report absences, lates and early departures using the School Messenger - Safe Arrival Absence Reporting system. Please do not call the main office.
The System can be accessed three ways:
(1) Enter an Absence Using the School Messenger App (most user friendly).
(2) Enter an Absence Using the Online Parent Portal: go.schoolmessenger.ca.
(3) Enter an Absence by Calling the School—250-870-5105, press "1" and follow the prompts.
LATE
Students that are more than 30 minutes late for class must check in at the office.
The office will timestamp the student’s arrival. Once the student makes their way to their classroom, their teacher will change the Absence to a Late. If this is an excused late, parents may report this in Safe Arrival. If a parent has an enquiry regarding an absent/late, they are to contact the classroom teacher.
EARLY DEPARTURE
Parents are required to report early departures into School Messenger. Once reported, the teacher will see this in MyEd and release the student at the reported dismissal time. If there is no excused absence in MyEd, students will be sent to the office for follow-up. This may delay student dismissal as the office obtains parental approval. If no parental approval is obtained, the student will be sent back to class.
TEAM ATTENDANCE
Coaches will report their team absences to the office. Students are expected to have a “Student Authorized Absence Form” filled out by their teachers for classes they will miss and show this form to their coach. Students keep this form as their homework is listed here.
Thank you for utilizing School Messenger and helping us keep all students safe and accounted for.
HOMEWORK
Communication between parents, students, and teachers is critical when a student is absent from class. Students are ultimately responsible for this direct communication and for any work they miss during an absence. If students are unable to contact teachers for homework themselves, parents can e-mail the teachers directly to request missed work. Contact information can be found on our website.
TRUANCY
STAGE 1: Truancy in any class will be dealt with by the classroom teacher. A phone call home will be placed. Unauthorized absences may result in a lunch hour and/or in-school detention to make up the time missed /or may take the form of service assigned to benefit the school. School detentions may be served with the classroom teacher or possibly with Behavior Support Teacher in room 180 at administrative discretion.
STAGE 2: Repeat occurrences of truancy will result in a referral to the attendance administrator. A parent contact will be made and the student may be placed on an attendance contract.
STAGE 3: Failure to comply with an attendance contract or the directive of school administration may result in a definite suspension of 1-10 days (in or out of school) as determined by the administration.
STAGE 4: After returning from a definite suspension, continued persistent excessive truancy will lead to the permanent removal from classes and/or an indefinite suspension from KSS.