Attendance & Early Pick Up

Arrivals, Departures & Attendance

Parents are asked to phone the Front Office at (905) 881-1611 and leave a message to inform the school when their child will be absent and the reason. Each morning the teacher sends a list to the Front Office of the students who are absent from class. The teacher indicates on that list if they are not aware of the reason for absence and wish parents to be called. Attendance is an important part of your child’s education and is included in the final end of year report in Grades 1 to 12.

If a student is leaving during the school day for an appointment or because of illness, the parent must sign the child out at the front desk. When a child is returned to school throughout the day, the child is also required to sign in at the front desk before proceeding to the classroom.

When A Child Needs To Be Picked Up From School

Please read our Student Health and Illness policy for more details.

We realize that it is very difficult for parents to pick up their child during the school day. We only call when we believe it is in the best interests of the students and the class. Here are the details related picking up a student who is not well:

  1. If an illness appears in the first half of the day, the parent will be required to come and pick up their child or make appropriate arrangements for them to get home safely.
    • If a person other than the parent is designated to take the student, the front office, or early childhood teacher, must be told the name of the expected person and that person must expect to be asked for identification.
    • In the case of an older student the parent can ask that a taxi be called to transport them home. They will be responsible for payment.
    • For safety reasons the school will not allow a student with significant fever or abdominal symptoms to take public transportation.
  2. In all cases the ill student should be picked up and signed out at the front office of the school by the parent or designate.
  3. If an illness appears toward the end of the school day, the student may wait until the end of the school day for normal transport home. The parent will be called and advised of the illness so they have the option of personally picking up their child or deciding the best means of transport.
  4. If a student has frequent complaints of head, limb, stomach aches, etc. the parent should communicate with the teacher and together develop a plan as to how these symptoms will be handled should they arise during the course of the school day.
  5. No student who has had a fever the previous day or has been vomiting 16 hours prior to the start of a school day is to be sent to school. Symptoms are often gone in the early morning due to the body’s normal biological rhythm, but reappear as the day progresses. A child requires appropriate rest after an illness.

These are some possible situations where pick-up will be necessary beyond illness:

  • If they are crying inconsolably for an extended period.
  • If they endanger themselves or others.
  • If their behaviour makes it impossible for the rest of the class to carry on with the program.
  • If, in the afternoon nursery or kindergarten program, another faculty member is unavailable to stay temporarily with them and they are so disruptive that the other children are unable to rest.

In all cases, a parent will only be asked to pick up their child when we have determined that all reasonable measures have been taken to alleviate the situation, and the child is still not able to return to their normal state. As with a medical emergency, if we are unable to reach a parent, the emergency contact will be called.