Attendance Line: 403-777-8670 ext. 1.

Janet Johnstone School has a safety phone-in attendance policy. Parents are requested to phone the school prior to 8:00 AM or 12:00 PM, at 403-777-8670 ext.1, if their child is going to be absent or late. Please notify the office, not the teacher, of your child’s absence. If the school has not received a telephone call from you indicating that your child is absent, the office will phone parents using all available phone numbers. We depend on you to phone us. The greater the number of calls we receive before the start of school to confirm absences, the shorter the response time will be, if we do have an emergency and need to locate a child.

Regular attendance and a habit of being on time are important to a child’s progress. The School Act states that under Compulsory Education Section 13(5) a student is excused from attending school on a day on which the school is open if:

a) The student is unable to attend by reason of sickness or other unavoidable cause
b) The day is recognized as a religious holiday by the religious denomination to which the student belongs
c) The principal of the school has suspended the student from school and the suspension is still in effect.

An absence for any other reason or without a reason is entered as an unexcused absence in the student’s attendance record.

Unexcused Absences

Please inform the office and the teacher in advance when your child will be going on a trip or family vacation. When students go on holiday or a trip during school days, teachers are not expected to provide prior to the student leaving the work that will be covered during their absence.

Please note also that:

• If your child will be absent from school for a vacation or family trip, the days for which your child is not attending school will be recorded as unexcused since they are not part of the conditions listed above for an excused absence.
• If your child is absent for a period of 5 days, you will receive a letter that provides information of which you should be aware, This letter will be placed in your child’s cumulative file,
• If your child is going to be absent for a period greater than 5 days, you will receive the letter as mentioned above but also an Extended Absence Notice that will need to be filled out and returned to the school prior to your child leaving the school. These two documents will also be placed in your child’s cumulative file.

Arriving On Time

All students should arrive for school between 7:45 AM and 8:00 AM for morning classes. Please note that students can enter during relaxed entry only through the back compound doors where they will be greeted by staff. No outside supervision will be provided except for a member of the administrative team supervising bus arrival and a teacher supervisor at the kindergarten doors. Teachers have been assigned to supervise their class inside the building starting at 7:45 AM.

Students who arrive after the bell will need to enter by the front door and come to the office to get a stamp in their agenda or late slip. Should a student arrive late and the back doors are not supervised by staff, they should come to the front door and ring the bell to come to the office.

Entry & Exit Procedures

Students are expected to:

• Enter and leave the building through their designated doors.
• Carry boots and outdoor shoes to and from their classroom.
• Please remove hats when they enter the building. Hats or toques are not to be worn inside during the school day.
• Meet family/friends or daycare provider at an agreed upon meeting spot outside after school.

After School

DUE TO COVID-19 PROTOCOLS, as outlined in our School Re-entry plan for 2020/21, the playground is closed each day before and after school.  This is in place to protect our cohorts of students and to prevent cohorts mixing, risking exposure to germs.  Thank you for your understanding.

After school, children meet their “walking group” or walking partner at a place outside the school and are encouraged to go home first before making play arrangements. Students who walk home should head home as soon as they are dismissed to avoid the risks that are associated with young children being left unsupervised. There is no supervision by school staff after 2:32 PM. Consequently, students should not play on the field or on the creative playground unless they are accompanied by their parent/guardian or adult caregiver.

Student Extended Absences

While it is recognized that enrichment activities or travel present unique learning opportunities for students, excessive or frequent absences create gaps in student learning and social development. Consequently, it becomes the parent’s responsibility to ensure their child is meeting learning expectations during extended absences; the school is unable to provide learning support.

An Extended Absence Form has been provided by the CBE Attendance Team and will be filled out when the parent has informed the school of the absence prior to their departure and has agreed to meet with the principal to discuss the implication their child’s absence will have on their learning. Another letter will be sent home when a parent has not informed the school of their child’s absence in advance of their departure and/or it was not possible to meet with the parent(s) prior to the absence.

Please be informed that it is not the responsibility of the teacher or the school to provide any materials or communicate with parents during their trip. They can check teachers’ blogs, emails, or twitter accounts that are available to all of the parents in the class but should not expect teachers to provide information on an individual basis during their child’s absence.