Student Enrolment Census

3. Attendance criteria

Principals must ensure that all records relating to attendance are retained by the school for all students who are included in census counts. These records (such as manual rolls and absence notes) will be used to verify that students meet the attendance criteria.

Regular attendance after census day will be considered as evidence of continuing enrolment and will be taken into account in any review of decisions regarding the counting of students.

The following attendance criteria apply to both SRP funded and non-SRP funded students. Attendance rolls must be examined to ensure that only students who meet both of the following criteria (A and B below) are included in census counts.

If students do not meet the attendance criteria they must be excluded from the census count, but must remain enrolled in the school.

Students can be excluded from the census by changing the CASES21 enrolment status to ‘inactive’ or by manually excluding. For instructions, see: CASES21 Census Process Guide.

For further information about recording, monitoring and supporting attendance, refer to Attendance.

A. Regular attendance during the current year

A principal may determine that a student is eligible to be included in the census count if the student has attended the school for at least 80% of the time from the date the student is enrolled at the school in the current year.

To be counted in the census, students must attend school regularly. If a student has more than one unapproved absence per week on average, they will not be considered eligible for the census.

Approved absences up to and including the census date must be supported by appropriate evidence. The student’s parents/carers need to have provided a reasonable excuse and the school must have accepted the explanation for the absence/s.

Absences approved for cases of school refusal or re-engagement must be supported by documentary evidence of the school’s efforts to re-engage the student in the school and encourage a return to full-time attendance. For more information on this process, refer to Requirements for schools managing absence.

Students who enrol and first attend a school on census day may be included in that school’s census count provided that the student has not been included in the census return of any other Victorian government or non-government school. As verification of this, the previous school must be contacted and a transfer note obtained.

B. Census day status

A principal may determine that a student is eligible to be included in the census count if the student is enrolled at the school, meets attendance criteria A and:

• has attended on census day, or
• has attended in the current year prior to census day but is absent on census day and the school has documentary evidence that the student is continuing at the school, or
• has attended in the current year prior to census day but is absent on census day, and:
  • has attended for at least 80% of the first 2 full school weeks of term and has accepted a late tertiary or TAFE offer made after that time, or
  • is attending an Alternative Education Setting (for example, Secondary Teaching Unit or Social Adjustment Centre).

Students who have not attended in the current year up to census day

A student who has not attended in the current year should generally not be included in census counts. Exceptions to this are when the absence is approved and the school is confident that the student will return. Approved absences are when a family provides a reasonable excuse for the absence which is accepted by the school principal. This can include absences due to:

• medical or illness reasons (absence code 200), if the school has documentary evidence that the student has been supplied with appropriate supports, such as a Student health support plan (DOCX) and, where reasonable, a Student absence learning plan (DOCX) has been considered
• Sorry Business (absence code 212) – which requires the student to gather with their family due to grief or loss within the Koorie community
• an extended family holiday (absence code 804) – as long as the parent/carer has received prior approval from the principal for the absence and a Student Absence Learning Plan has been considered.

All other students who have not attended in the current year must not be included in census counts and an ‘inactive’ CASES21 enrolment status must be used.
For advice on accurate attendance recording, schools can refer to the Attendance and absence recording guide (PDF) (staff login required).

Students with less than 80% attendance before census day

Students who have been absent without explanation or for an unapproved reason for more than 20% of the time before census day are considered irregular attendees and are not eligible to be counted in the census.

Regular attendance at school is essential to support the learning, wellbeing and safety of children and young people. Schools must encourage and support students to remain at school and attend regularly. For support on encouraging student attendance and addressing barriers to re-engagement, schools can refer to the department’s Attendance policy. Schools are encouraged to contact their senior education improvement leader (SEIL) or area health and wellbeing staff, including the school’s health and wellbeing key contact (HWKC) for additional support where required.

Students who have attended school for less than 80% of the current year up to census day may be included in the census counts if:

• the student has attended school in the month prior to census day
• the school has documentary evidence that consistent efforts are being made to encourage attendance
• there is evidence that the student is continuing at the school.

This evidence would include up-to-date documentation in a student’s file of:

• correspondence between parents/carers and the school and records of all phone contact
• strategies used by the school to improve attendance, including referral to the student welfare co-ordinator and records of meetings with the student and parents/carers
• attendance records after census day
• correspondence between the department regional office and the school
• negotiations with external providers and agencies.

Contact which does not indicate any engagement with the student’s parents/carers – or in the case of older students, the student themselves (such as unreturned letters or phone calls) – cannot be considered as documentary evidence to support the counting of the student.

The intention of providing funding for students with attendance concerns aims to support schools in their sustained efforts to re-engage these students.

The enrolment verification process would expect to find evidence that the school follow-up and documentation to re-engage the student in education did not only occur prior to census day but that it had continued up to the time of verification. If there is no evidence of further attendance, or further follow-up of the student post-census day, then the school will not be eligible for funding for this student.

When a young person re-entering education enrols in a school after the February census date, schools may be able to apply for late enrolment funding.

Students returning after census day (late returning students)

Written requests can be made for a re-calculation of the SRP to include students enrolled in the previous year who returned to school between March and the end of the first week of Term 2. These must be forwarded by email by the last school day in May to the Census Hotline.

Schools seeking such adjustments need to provide supporting documentation demonstrating that:

• the student was enrolled at the school in the previous year
• the student has not been included in any Victorian government or non-government school’s February census count
• the student returned to school on or before the end of the first week of Term 2.

A school can request late returning student funding for a student who was due to start Prep if they are the sibling of a student attending the school in the previous year. The school must provide documentation demonstrating that classes were structured to include the Prep student at the beginning of the school year.

Documents to provide with an application for a late returning student

Criteria to demonstrate – the student was enrolled at the school in the previous year

Documentation required:

• a copy of the December roll to confirm the student’s attendance in the previous year (for continuing students)
• a copy of the enrolment form confirming enrolment date (for students commencing Prep)
• a copy of class lists showing the late returning Prep student was included in the class structure.

Criteria to demonstrate – the student has not been included in any Victorian government or non-government school’s February census count

Documentation required:

• a copy of the final census report ‘Students excluded from the February Census Count’ to confirm student was not claimed for SRP-funding
• a copy of the note from the parents/carers informing the school of the student’s intended absence from the commencement of the school year until after census day for reasons such as an overseas or interstate holiday
• if the absence was not due to a scheduled family holiday, a copy of correspondence or communication with the parents/carers or student before census day clarifying the reason for absence.

Criteria to demonstrate – the student returned to school on or before the end of the first week of Term 2

Documentation required: a copy of the relevant year’s attendance roll confirming student’s return date and ongoing attendance.

Changes to the SRP for students returning after census day will be processed after the enrolments from the mid-year census have been finalised. Where the SRP funded enrolment remains stable or decreases between February and August, no additional funding will be provided. Where the SRP funded enrolment increases between February and August, the SRP will be recalculated to reflect the increase that is attributed to any late returning students.

Students commencing after census day

Students who enrol at the school after census day cannot be included in the census counts.

Contact the Census Hotline in the rare event that a student enrols at a school in the week after census day and if:

• the student has regularly attended and was eligible to be counted in another Victorian government school, and
• both the transferring school and the receiving school agree that the receiving school can count all or part of the FTE for the student
• both schools resubmit their census returns by no later than one week after census day and ensure that the student is counted to a total of no more than 1.0 FTE.

Schools should also contact the Census Hotline if a student meets all the following criteria:

• the student has regularly attended a Victorian government school in the current school year
• the student was not eligible to be counted in any other school’s census count
• the student was absent from school on census day (as part of a short absence from the Victorian government school system such as moving from Warrnambool to Bairnsdale and taking a few days to do so)
• the student made a valid enrolment and commenced attending classes at the school in the week after census day
• student is a continuing student at the school.

The department may agree that counting the student at the school is consistent with the department’s intention to count such students in the census return of the school where they will be a continuing student.

All other students, including students from interstate or overseas, from the non-government sector, or students enrolling in school for the first time, who enrol (first attend classes) at the school after census day cannot be included in census counts.

Late enrolment funding for re-engaging students

When a young person re-entering education enrols in a school after the February census date, schools can apply for late enrolment funding. For eligibility criteria and application information refer to Late enrolment funding (edugate) or contact the youth pathways and transition manager in the DET region.