Gold Coast schools with most sick days, student absences revealed

A handful of Gold Coast schools have recorded some of the highest unexplained absences for their students per capita — while another has revealed the secret to getting their kids to school.

A GOLD Coast principal has incentivised students to turn up by making attendance a contest amongst classrooms — and it is paying off.

Gilston State School in the Hinterland has an inter-class competition awarding weekly prizes and is in the city’s top 10 for best attendance.

Gilston State School joins Ingleside State School, Bellevue Park State School, Benowa State School, Caningeraba State School, Miami State School and Mudgeeraba State School with the highest attendance rate of 94-95 per cent for this year.

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Gilston State School Principal Craig Douglas helps keep attendance rates high with a new strategy. Picture Glenn Hampson

Gilston principal Craig Douglas said getting students to school was a shared responsibility between parents and the school.

The school west of Nerang now takes weekly attendance rates of each class as part of an ongoing school competition. Each week the class with the highest attendance rate gets a prize.

“I want my students to feel like they are missing out when they spend a day away from school,” he said.

“It is a no-brainer, kids need to be at school to learn, so getting them here is part of the job.

“Having that class approach to the problem also means when you are away, you are letting your team down.

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Teacher Kylie Glew with her winning Grade One class award. Picture Glenn Hampson

“Gone are the days of some students having every second Friday off because they are a bit sleepy. I don’t mind that competition if it means kids want to be at school,” he said.

On average his students miss just 0.12 days per year without explanation, one of the lowest rates in the city.

The Gilston students also recorded under three sick days annually and secured a 94 per cent attendance rate for this year.

Mr Douglas put the high attendance down to a new competitive program introduced last year.

“I know we can do better, we have a high target of 97 per cent for attendance,” he said.

From the start of 2017, state schools have also been required to notify parents on the same day a student is absent without explanation following recommendations by the Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC).

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Since it was introduced the region’s student ‘absences without reason’ have dropped about 30 per cent from 133,017 in 2016 to 93,422 in 2017.

But despite the increased focus on recording, Gold Coast schools on average have seen no improvement in actual attendance.

For the first semester of 2018 the Gold Coast attendance rate sat at 91.8 per cent, a marginal improvement on the state average of 91.7 per cent in 2017. It was a slight drop of 0.2 per cent for the Gold Coast from the same year.

On average Gold Coast students had 3.4 sick days a year and 1.5 days of unexplained absences.

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Keebra Park State High School, Nerang State High School and Pimpama State Secondary College however recorded more than 3.5 unexplained absences on average per student last year.

Sick days were also higher in some regions with both Nerang State High and Nerang State School recording the highest rate of sick days per capita for both high school and primaries.

Teacher’s Union Gold Coast organiser Jodie Walsh said attendance had been a major focus in the past 12 months.

“A lot of the Gold Coast schools have an amazing focus on attendance,” she said.

“There is clearly a correlation between the more you attend and the better the outcomes.”

According to Ms Walsh the mandatory notification to parents has meant schools have been better at seeing where students are slipping through the gaps, however upping attendance is a larger challenge.

“Parents are now more aware that they have a responsibility to tell schools why their students are away.

“The issue can also impact on the class room, when there are gaps in student learning particularly a rotation of absences can lead to some delays and backtracking in the classroom,” she said.

“It is something the community and parents need to work with in tandem.”

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2017 Queensland Education absence data & Myschool student numbers data

TOP 5 SICK DAYS PER STUDENT

Nerang State High School 4.75

Pimpama State Secondary College 4.60

Helensvale State High School 4.59

Tamborine Mountain State High School 4.51

Keebra Park State High School 4.45

TOP 5 UNEXPLAINED ABSENCES PER STUDENT

Keebra Park State High School 4.44

Nerang State High School 3.69

Pimpama State Secondary College 3.62

Cedar Creek State School 3.34

Merrimac State High School 3.20

TOP 10 HIGHEST ATTENDANCE RATES

Ingleside State School 95%

Bellevue Park State School 94%

Benowa State School 94%

Caningeraba State School 94%

Gilston State School 94 %

Miami State School 94%

Mudgeeraba State School 94%

Arundel State School 93%

Ashmore State School 93%

Broadbeach State School 93%