Students and families of two small Lake Macquarie schools are sending the message that Every Day Matters loud and clear with big lifts in attendance.
Wiripaang Public School and Windale Public School are in low socio-economic areas and have high Aboriginal enrolments.
Wiripaang had the highest growth in student attendance of any NSW public school between 2019 and 2023. Last year the school met its daily attendance target and by the end of Term 1 this year it was 5.2% above the target. Its attendance rate is currently 89.7%, 2.2% above the state average.
Windale's attendance has grown 6.4% since this time last year to a current rate of 88.7%, 3.1% above its attendance target.
The schools have used a number of similar initiatives and individual programs to achieve their results, but they are all personalised to families, a constant throughout each school day and week, and multi-faceted.
The approaches include communication with parents about individual and general attendance through as many means as possible, including face-to-face
