MUST READ: School Policies, Important Documents, FAQs

Truancy Policy

Truancy by definition is the absence of part of, or all of, one or more days from school during which the school attendance officer, principal or teacher has not been notified of the appropriate cause of such absence by the parent or guardian and also means intermittent carried on for the purpose of defeating the intent of compulsory education.

Students are required to attend school until they reach the age of eighteen or graduate. Reaching the age of majority does not imply any specific rights. If a student is eighteen (18) or older and chooses not to follow the rules, regulations, and/or policies of the school, that student can be asked to cease attendance in school. Regular attendance at school is critical for the student’s learning. To encourage regular attendance by students, our school will ensure that students and their parents are informed about the school’s policy on attendance. Where, in the principal’s judgement, a student’s frequent absences from school are jeopardizing his or her success, school staff should meet with the student and the parents to explain the potential consequences of the absences and discuss steps to be taken to improve attendance. Students of compulsory school age whose absence is reported to the school board attendance counsellor will have the reason for their absence investigated.

Attendance Tracking

Tracking attendance during asynchronous classes is a challenge that must be met with flexibility, consideration, and understanding from all parties involved.

While the function and appeal of online education is the autonomy and the flexibility that it provides the students, online classes still require a consistent and reliable rate of work. Though students are given 6 months to finish an asynchronous online course, it is not technically correct to state that the student can begin after 5 months without issue.

Indeed, the course should begin soon after enrollment and the student should be involved in a flexible but steady and consistent rate of work. The reasons for this are as follows.

·       Students might require a grade soon after completion, but there is no guarantee that the grade can be delivered on time if the student does not provide the teacher with sufficient time to assess their work properly.

·       There is a low chance of successful completion if the student begins too late into the 6 months.

·       Students that do not begin their course early on without supervision or notices of attendance might not finish their course.

·       Student learning is impacted if learning and progress are sporadic instead of measured and consistent.

·       Parents might want security and updates with regards to their student’s progress.

·       Most importantly, we want all students at the School to have an enriching experience and to be accomplished students.

Keeping these considerations in mind, The School attendance policy with respect to the Online School Operation is as follows.

Attendance will be tracked by each teacher through the student log and course activity. Student logs are available in each course site. The student is expected to make a copy of the student log, share it with their teacher, and update the log every week.

Though in this case, the student log will also be used as a tool for attendance, a student log is a tool used to keep track of the 110 hours needed to complete an OSSD credit and must be completed regardless of attendance tracking.

Parents should communicate any expected extended absences from the course activity to the teacher. In the absence of such communication, attendance notifications will be sent out to students and parents if,

·       there has been no update on the student log for two consecutive weeks.

Attendance warnings, explaining the consequences of late engagement with the course will be sent to parents and students if,

·       there has been no course activity for a consecutive 2 months.