Attendance Strategies

What it is

An area of student need of any deliberate student absence from school, often referred to as truancy and/or chronic absenteeism that is not due to legitimate illness.

Strategies

Teaching Strategies:

With the student
• Develop a warm and supportive rapport with the student. Find out his/her likes and dislikes and engage in friendly conversations.
• Don’t criticize or make negative/sarcastic comments when the student comes to school, about the student missing school.
• Help catch the student up on missed work.
• Develop a student profile and use differentiated instruction targeted at the student’s preferred learning method.
• Offer the student choices for demonstration of learning and assessment.
• Improve classroom climate.
More...

With Parents
• Develop a positive rapport with parents/guardians.
• Make and maintain frequent contact with parents and enlist their support as part of the team.
• Establish regular meetings with parents and the student.
• Send home positive reinforcements for student attendance and communicate school successes.
• Provide contacts for out of school supports (public counsellors, nurse, etc.)
• Suggest resources for appropriate medical reasons for missing school.
• Offer supports for issues relating to their child’s needs at school (food, clothing, hygiene, transportation, etc.)

With the School Team
• Review the student’s OSR and talk to previous teachers about successes and strategies with respect to attendance.
• Seek other supports from administration, attendance counsellors, guidance counsellors, Child and Youth Workers, Social Workers, psychology staff, etc.
• Consider contacting the Children’s Aid for support.
• Consider and collaboratively problem solve for issues involving lack of food, transportation, inadequate clothing for the weather, lack of clean clothes, bullying, etc.
• Include information on the importance of school attendance for parents and students on newsletters, school website, etc.
• Explore alternative education options: coop, e-learning, modified school day, summer school, etc.



Resources
Student Needs IPRC Exceptionalites Diagnosed Conditions