Parenting Australia

Introducing Parenting Australia's newest blogger, Marty Jonas. As a primary school teacher in Melbourne, Marty reminds us of the importance of regular school attendance and the benefits of attending consistently.

Have you got your child in the habit of attendance? How do you deal with your kids when they don't want to go to school?

Click here to read Marty's post.

I missed a bit of school here and there, Free dress days were to stressful so I stayed home with my mums consent. I missed most of weeks 3 - 7 of year 11 and half the year worth of Thursdays in year 12. Well maybe not that many but it was lots. My friends and I would go into town, do some research for assignments and then go and see a movie. I finished with high and very high achievements in my subjects and had lots of fun.

Funnily enough. I am now a trained teacher.

When it is my daughters time to go to school, I only hope she is happy enough to stay the day.

I only wish that there was not so much pressure for kids to finish year 12. So many kids would do better leaving at year 10 and doing a trade.

I dont support truancy for the wrong reasons (so kids can lounge around at home or go out and terrorize the streets ) but I have to say that schooling has changed a lot since the days when days off school were a rarity.

I went to a selective high school and the pressure to achieve was enormous. I took on an immense workload, and although my grades up to year 12 were great, as soon as I hit year twelve I burnt out. About a third of the grade was off for counselling and having panic attacks and mental breakdowns.

Personally I think having a day off here and there to destress would do more good than harm.

When it comes to primary school, if your child wants to have time off, or particularly detests school, you should also try to find the cause - make sure bullying isn't at play.

If we had to fit into a day what some senior high school students had to do, I think we would all have a breakdown.

I guess it depends on the frame of mind the kids are in at the time. I started a new school in a new town at the begining of year 11. Two weeks in I lost everything I owned in a fire. I did not have anything or any of my close friends. School was the last place I wanted to be. Not only that the subjects I was really good at were full and I had to enrol in the leftovers. I made friend who were not so studious, I did however pass year 12 and complete uni. I do value education but I also see that there is more to it than turning up, you need to turn up with the right frame of mind and sadly in year 11 my mind was elsewhere and no amount of counselling was going to bring back my things or friends, only time was going to heal that.