Regional Attendance Initiative TOWARD PROSECUTION

Regional Attendance Initiative North Metropolitan Intervention Flowchart - Know the process

Regional Attendance Initiative BEFORE PURSUING PROSECUTION Use Positive Strategies Ensure Access to Differentiated Curriculum Make Positive Contact Build a Good Rapport Provide Support to try Overcome any Obstacles to Attendance Ensure Families know Attendance Processes and Expectations

Regional Attendance Initiative Use attendance brochures that explain school processes, law requirements, etc…given out on enrolment and attached to unexplained absence letters mailed home. The community need to know your school’s processes and expectations.

Regional Attendance Initiative Inform parents of this data through newsletters. Raise the communities consciousness of the impact of poor attendance.

Regional Attendance Initiative Non-Compulsory Letter – Kindy students cannot be prosecuted, but poor attendance habits start early. Data trends suggest that poor habits in Kindy follow students through their schooling career. It is really important Kindy parents are aware of the impact of negative attendance on their child’s learning.

Regional Attendance Initiative In combination with your leadership team, staple these letters to the reports of all students under 90%. It sends a message to parents who aren’t happy with their child’s results that attendance has had an impact. These are all strategies of raising the communities understanding of the benefits of good attendance, without specifically prosecuting individuals

Regional Attendance Initiative Use provided samples of newsletter ‘whinges’ to constantly feedback the importance of student attendance – it is all about building in-direct contact before focussing on the individual cases.

Regional Attendance Initiative First Contact  Positive phone call home about a student strength.  Attendance absence letters asking for an explanation of absence with a brochure of school processes attached.  Monitor attendance closely.  Document all contact, every call, every letter, every agency intervention, every visit.

Regional Attendance Initiative Use the RAI created Student Attendance Folder for students in the severe category. Document attendance, parent contact and which stage of the intervention flowchart you are at. Some school record all their contact in SIS, then print it out and place it in the folder, which is later presented to an attendance panel.

Regional Attendance Initiative Getting Serious Tried positive incentives. Offered pastoral care Eliminated mental issues through psych involvement Catered for the child academically at their level Tried nice letters

Regional Attendance Initiative PROSECUTION

Regional Attendance Initiative This letter is in the RAI attendance kit. It is a good example of first specific individual contact in a prosecution context. It can also double as the first North Metro progression letter as seen on the next slide. The term planner on the second page is very visual and highlights the issue. With each letter try to deliver it in triplicate. Mail it conventionally, hand deliver and send by registered mail. This way there is no suggestion the information has not reached the parent/caregiver. Also where possible show them what the second letter looks like, let them know the process you are taking them through.

Regional Attendance Initiative One last semi-nice letter raising the issue but quoting the act and offering support, if you haven’t seen an improvement in a fortnight, send a more serious one. The suggestion is to replace this letter with the one on the previous slide. Again, mail this home, and put a copy of the letter in a parent’s hand on a home visit and send the letter by registered mail (as the sender, you are advised of collection) It is about explaining what the process is, and showing what the next letter will look like if they don’t improve their child’s attendance.

Regional Attendance Initiative A slightly more serious letter asking for improvement, or the need to develop an attendance plan. If in two weeks there has been no improvement, meet and put an attendance plan in place with the parent, include the school psych, develop strategies to overcome poor attendance and include a positive incentive in the plan. If a parent doesn’t show, document it but proceed with the meeting.

Regional Attendance Initiative Implement a plan at the informal meeting. Templates and Exemplars of Attendance Plans or Aboriginal Education Plans etc, all available on the North Metropolitan Education Regional Office website. All Aboriginal students attending under 90% need an attendance plan and an IEP. This document is an all-in-one plan.

Regional Attendance Initiative Visual graphs in SIS to use in case conferences. It helps some parents to understand the attendance issue when seeing comparisons to others. Show this data at the informal meeting. YOUR CHILD

Put a plan in place and have the parent sign off on it at the end of the informal meeting. Make the plan for 3 weeks – so it is habit forming and not too easy to achieve.

Regional Attendance Initiative Formal meeting ‘threat’ and consultation with NMERO. If there is no improvement in 2 weeks, set a date for the formal meeting by sending the next letter.

Regional Attendance Initiative Notification of Formal Meeting where a Voluntary Parenting Agreement is offered. If it is broken or not adhered to over the next two weeks, send the next letter. If a family gets better for 2 weeks, then slips into old habits, send the next letter when attendance declines. Call the Behaviour and Attendance Team. If you have done all the above, you are ready for a Formal Meeting with a NMERO representative.

Regional Attendance Initiative A Voluntary Parenting Agreement can be entered at the Formal Meeting, in consultation with NMREO and the BAT team / Aboriginal Education team. If the parent doesn’t want to enter into this, then the initial attendance plan needs to be re-tweaked. If that plan fails and attendance does not improve the next stage is to convene a panel through the BAT team and NMERO.

Regional Attendance Initiative Letter from RED advising referral to attendance panel. This letter is sent from NMERO. The final stage for the school is to prepare a report

Regional Attendance Initiative Letter from the Panel Chairperson advising parents of panel time and place. If the panel has no further recommendations - prosecution procedures follow.

Regional Attendance Initiative Presented by Schools to the Attendance Panel. To be filled out in consultation with NMERO and the BAT team.

Regional Attendance Initiative Successfully presented to an attendance panel – A summary of intervention – in short, you want to leave panel ‘scratching their heads’ thinking that they can’t come up with any further recommendations, (because the school has tried everything) - enhancing the chances of prosecution.

Regional Attendance Initiative Consult with the checklist in the Panel and Prosecution section of the Regional Attendance Initiative on the NMERO Website for further information about prosecution or to gain access to the samples seen in this presentation.