28 Sep 2012
From Monday 8th October 2012, Killara High School will use a Short Messaging Service (SMS) called SMS Absence Alerts notifying parents/carers of absent children. These notifications will be sent to parents/carers of absent children on a daily basis.
Home group rolls will be marked as usual and then scanned, generating a list of absences. This will then be used to automatically send an SMS to a parent/carer of each child on the list alerting them to the fact that their child is currently marked absent from school.
A parent will then be asked to respond by SMS to provide a reason for the absence. Each response will be coded to indicate the absence as Sick, Leave, or School Business. The absence will then be recorded as explained through this process and each message attached to the student's electronic attendance file.
If a parent believes his or her child is at school he/she can telephone the school, at which point staff will endeavour to confirm the student's attendance at school, communicate this to the parent and, as necessary, adjust school records, or refer the matter to the relevant Stage Head Teacher for follow up.
The use of the SMS Absent Alerts will enable the school to improve communication with parents about their children's attendance, and provide an opportunity for parents to explain the absences with a simple and immediate SMS replies.