Dear Parents, Carers, Students, Staff and Friends of the College,

Every Day Counts………..

We all know how important regular attendance is. Every day your son is absent, he is missing opportunities for academic, social, emotional, spiritual and physical growth and development. Regular attendance is vital if your son is to realise his potential! There is a direct correlation between attendance and academic achievement and students who have excellent attendance are more likely to perform to the best of their ability in all aspects of College life. Excellent attendance also engenders feelings of belonging and connectedness and contributes to our young men feeling part of the Holy Cross community.

At times we may allow our child to miss the ‘odd’ day of school or make excuses for their lack of punctuality thinking that the occasional absence or lateness won’t really matter. The table below (courtesy of NSW Department of Education) demonstrates clearly how quickly lost time accumulates and the incredible difference it can make to overall time at school and ultimately time on task. 

Too many boys arrive late to the College each morning with no credible reason. We all know and appreciate that this would not be accommodated for or allowed in the workforce and similarly it is not acceptable at school. We thank you for your cooperation in assisting your son to establish good routines in the morning to ensure that they are on time each day for school.

The next table demonstrates what constitutes excellent attendance. It also gives a clear indication of when we should be concerned about a student's attendance. I often remark to the students that whilst 90% is a mark that we would all be happy with in an exam, when speaking in terms of attendance this equals 1 day off each fortnight and represents a significant amount of lost learning.

Our goal here at Holy Cross is to assist every student to become the very best version of themselves. This is only possible if they have excellent attendance and adhere to one of our very simple catch-phrases; Right Place, Right Time, Right Equipment, Right Attitude. 

Of course there are times students need to stay home when they are ill and we understand that there are some students who face significant challenges coming to school. What we are asking is for families and students to be cognisant of the above and work with the College in ensuring that all students attend school every day that we are open for instruction.

Please reach out to your son’s HCT teacher or Year Coordinator if you would like some support in improving your son’s regular attendance at school.

Looking ahead

The end of Term 3 is always one of the busiest times of the school year with the main focus on our Year 12 cohort as they complete 13 years of formal education. Our senior class have returned well from their Trial exams and I look forward to watching them finish well over the coming weeks. Please see below for some of our major dates between now and the conclusion of Term 3.

Wishing you all the very best for the coming weeks.