Help Guide: Manually Calculating Attendance Rates

Help Guide: Manually Calculating Attendance Rates

Help Guide: Manually Calculating Attendance Rates

This document provides step-by-step instructions for manually calculating your school’s attendance rates. If you have a small school, or a school with low technology support we recommend using the STATS Collection Tool. The STATS Collection Tool removes the need for manually calculating data and enables staff at a school/campus to:

• Quickly enter information about their school;
• Enter information about students and their attendance; and
• Generate the required data for upload for each of the STATS reference periods.

This document is useful for checking the upload file your school technology produces and can be used to calculate your school’s attendance figures to manually enter into the STATS module.

Please Note: For the purpose of the STATS collection, the worldcohortis used to mean a group of students at a school campus by the combination of Year Level, Sex and All Students or Indigenous Students. Using the various combinations of the above, there are always four cohorts per year level at a campus:

• All Male students (including Indigenous students)
• Male Indigenous students
• All Female students (including Indigenous students)
• Female Indigenous students

The following steps must be undertaken for each reference period and each cohort.

1.1Identify part-time and distance education students, along with students in foundation/kindergarten and Years 11- 12

Identify any part-time, distance education, foundation/kindergarten and Year 11 - 12 students in your school.These students are not to be includedin the following steps; nor in your submission to the collection.

1.2Identify Indigenous students

The STATS requires attendance data to be submitted for All Students (T) and Indigenous Students (I).This means that you must include Indigenous students within the All Students count and provide a separate count for anyIndigenous Students within each cohort.

Tosupply the required data for the STATS you will need to identify all the Indigenous full-time students at your school by grade and gender. Note:if you are manually calculating your school’s attendance data it can be easiest to complete the below steps for Indigenous students prior to all students.If you have no indigenous students in a Year Level you can either leave the row blank, or add a zero to each response in that row.

1.3Calculating the number of School Days in aReference Period

School Days in a Reference Periodare the days that yourschoolis open and conducting lessonsinSemester 1 or Term 3. Using a school calendar or roll, count the number of days that your school is open (conducting lessons) during the reference period. Note: ensure you remove any school holidays and non-school days from the count.The resulting figure is the number of school days in the reference period; this will need to be done for each cohort.

1.4Calculating the Possible School Days for each student

To calculate the Possible School Days for a cohort you will need to record how many days each studentin a cohort could possibly have attended school during the reference period. Typically, this figure will be the same as the School Days in a Reference Period, unless a student enrolled during the reference period, left the school, or changed from full-time enrolment). These figures for each cohort should be combined together to provide a sum response to the STATS module.

Please Note:

The number of Possible School Days for a student must not exceed the number of School Days in a Reference Periodfor the cohort (calculated at Step 3).

The following examples provide some illustration of Possible School Days for a student.

Example 1: Enrolled for the entire duration of the reference period

Student A is enrolled at the school for the entire duration of the reference period (Semester 1 or Term 3). This means the number of Possible School Days for Student A is the same as the School Days in the Reference Periodfor their cohort.

Example 2: Student enrols at the school half way through the reference period

Student B is enrolled at the school halfway through the reference period (Semester 1 or Term 3). ThePossible School Days for Student B would be the number of school days between the date they started (at the school) and the end of the reference period.

Example 3: Student transfers to another school one week before the end of the reference period

Student C transfers to another school one week before the end of the reference period (Semester 1 or Term 3). The Possible School Days forStudent C span from the start of the reference period up to, and including, the last day Student C was at the school.

Example 4: Student changes from full-time to part-time enrolment

Student D changes their enrolment status from full-time to part-time at the start of Term 2 (halfway through the Semester 1 reference period). Part-time students are not included in the STATS collection. However, you have to include Student D for the time in the reference period when Student D was a full-time student. The Possible School Daysfor Student D span from the start of the reference period up to, and including, the last day the student was full-time enrolled.

1.5Calculate the number of Attendance Days for each student

An attendance day is a possible school day where the student attended school (i.e. the days or parts thereof that the student was at school).

The number of attendance days for each student can never exceed the number of Possible School Days for a student (calculated at Step 4), nor the number of school days for the cohort in the reference period (calculated at Step 3).

Count the number of days each student attended school after applying the following rules to their attendance record:

1. If a student did not attend school on a particular day for the full day (i.e. they attended for part of the day), then this attendance should be included in the data as a fraction/proportions of a full day attendance. Part day attendances may be reported up to two decimal places – e.g. .5 for half a day; .25 for a quarter of a day, etc)
2. If the school closes for part of a day due to an emergency or holiday during the day, then attendance for that day must be counted as a full day and those students who did not attend that day are counted as absent for the whole day.
3. If a full-time student moves schools during the reference period, then their attendance must be reported on the days which they are enrolled at the school (i.e. a new student arrives at the school in week three of Term 3 and is in attendance for the remainder of Term 3. This student’s attendance from week three of Term 3 to the end of Term 3 must be reported for the STATS collection by the school).
4. Where an informal arrangement exists between schools where a student attends multiple schools, but remains enrolled full-time at one school, all absences and attendances must be attributed to the main school.
5. Absences by the student must be treated as identified in Table 1on Page 4.

Table 1: Absences/incidents included as attended school days.

General description of incidents/absences / Treatment of absence
Absent/ Present / NA / Possible school days
Included / Excluded

1. Unexplained/unauthorised absences

Absences where the school does not receive any explanation, or where the reason for absence is considered unacceptable. Includes absences such as:

• Truancy
• Unexplained
• Without parent/guardian approval
• Unacceptable explanations as determined by the school

/ Absent / Included

1. Religious/cultural absences

Approved/notified absences due to recognised religious or ceremonial activity / Absent / Included

1. Parent-approved absences

Includes absences such as:

• Family event
• Extended holidays

/ Absent / Included

1. Medical

Approved/notified absences due to medical reasons. Includes absences such as:

• Illness
• External medical appointment with health care professionals including counselling

/ Absent / Included

1. Disciplinary (Out-of-school)

Disciplinary action that is not on school grounds.Includes suspensions but excludes internal suspensions(see F). / Absent / Included

1. Disciplinary (In-school)

Disciplinary action that is on school grounds. Includes internal suspensions / Present / Included

1. Behavioural reasons

Behavioural absences, e.g. disengagement. Excludes disciplinary action (see E or F). / Absent / Included

1. Bereavement

Approved/notified absences due to bereavement.Includes absences such as:

• Funeral
• Personal Bereavement

/ Absent / Included

1. School closed

School closed for religious, public or other holiday.
Includes absences such as:

• Unexpected temporary school closure
• Strike action/industrial action
• School unavailable
• School choice
• Individual school calendars
• All classes cancelled for the day

/ NA / Excluded

1. Natural disaster/event

Natural disaster/event where students are unable to travel to school and school is closed. / NA / Excluded

1. Approved educational absence

Attendance at an approved/sanctioned school event where the student is not required to attend school. Includes absences such as:

• Excursions
• Flexible timetable
• Attending another school
• Vocational Education Training (VET) activities

/ Present / Included

1. Work experience programs

Approved participation in/attendance at work experience related programs. School is responsible for students on these programs.
NSSC states that students’ time spent on work experience programs, as part of the school curriculum or program, should be treated as time in school. / Present / Included

1. Employment

Short-term employment. School is not responsible for students during this period; however, student remains officially enrolled. / Absent / Included

1. Explained other absence

Absences from school due to acceptable reasons, other than any of those listed in this table. / Absent / Included

1. Exemptions

Approved exemptions such as certificate of exemptions, only for exceptional circumstances. Reasons for exemptions must not conflict with other descriptions in this table.
Includes approved short-term employment for NSW and SA such as employment in the entertainment industry where approval and exemption from class has been given by the appropriate school personnel.
Note: Due to the low number of absences in this category, some jurisdictions may choose to include these absences as possible school days. Although this is not recommended, this has minimal impact to the national and jurisdictional attendance rate. / NA / Excluded
P.1. Detention/Juvenile Justice/Suspension/Immigration Detention Centres – notified
School is notified that student is at the relevant centre. See P.2 for notified absences.

• WA: Student is enrolled in main school but is part of Immigration Detention Centre.

/ NA / Excluded
P.2. Detention/Juvenile Justice/Suspension/Immigration Detention Centres – not notified
If school is not notified, then the student would be absent for ‘unexplained/unauthorised’ reasons. / Absent / Included

1. Behaviour centre

Absences of students who are moved to a behaviour centre, but who nevertheless remain enrolled in their main school. All data are attributed back to main school / Absent / Included

1. Tutorial Centres

Absences at the main school for students who are moved to a tutorial centre but who nevertheless remain enrolled in their main school / Present / Included

1. Expelled

Student is no longer enrolled at the school / NA / Excluded

1.6Calculate the Attendance Rate for each student

A student’s Attendance Rate is the percentage of school that a student attended in the reference period. This rate is calculated through dividing their Attendance Daysby theirPossible School Daysand expressing this is a percentage (multiplying by 100). This will need to be completed for each student in a cohort to determine whether they had over, or less than 90% attendance.

As a formula, calculating a student’s attendance rate looks like the following:

Attendance Rate (%)= 100 x Student’s Actual Days of attendance (the answer you got at Step 5)

Student’s Possible School Days (the answer you got to Step 4)

1.7Calculate the total number of Possible School Days for a cohort

To calculate the total number of Possible School Days for a cohort, combine the possible school days calculated at Step 4 for all students in a cohort.

Please note:

1. If you are keying data directly into the STATS module; thecombined total for a cohort should be added to the column called Possible School Days.
2. If you are keying data into a CSV file;the combined total for a cohort should be added to the column called Possible School Days.

1.8Calculate the number of Attendance Days for a cohort

To calculate the total number of Attendance Days for a cohort, combine the attendance days calculated at Step 5 for all students in a cohort.

Please note:

1. If you are keying data directly into the STATS module;the combined total for a cohort should be added to the column called Attendance Days.
2. If you are keying data into a CSV file;the combined total for a cohort should be added to the column calledAttendance Days.

1.9Calculate the number of students in a cohort with an attendance rate of less than 90% (<90%)

This step requires you to count how many students in the cohort had an attendance rate of less than 90% at Step 6.

Please note:

1. If you are keying data directly into the STATS module;all students in a cohort with less than 90% attendance should be entered into the column called Counts of students with attendance rates <90%.
2. If you are keying data into a CSV file;all students in a cohort with less than 90% attendance should be entered into the column called Counts of students with attendance rates <90%.

1.10Calculate the number of students in a cohort with an attendance rate equal to, or greater than 90% (≥90%)

This step requires you to count how many students in the cohort had an attendance rate of equal to, or greater than 90% at Step 6.

Please note:

1. If you are keying data directly into the STATS module;all students in a cohort with equal to, or greater than 90% attendance should be entered into the column called Counts of students with attendance rates of ≥90%.
2. If you are keying data into a CSV file, all students in a cohort with equal to, or greater than 90% attendance should be entered into the column called Counts of students with attendance rates of ≥ 90%.

1.11Calculate Possible School Daysof students in the cohort with an attendance rate of equal to, or greater than 90%(≥ 90%)

To calculate the total Possible School Days for Students equal to or greater than 90% attendance:

1. Identify the students with an attendance rate of equal to or greater than 90% at Step 6.
2. Total the Possible School Days for these students

Repeat Step 3 to Step 11 for each cohort at each campus for the reference period.

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