We'll mark the absence as unjustified when the reason is explained but does not fit the school policy. The explanation for the absence is accepted by the school as the reason for the absence, but the reason does not fit within the school's policy as a justifiable reason to take the student off school.
Such as:
“Molly had to stay home to look after her younger brother for holidays during term time."
⇒We'll use code "E - Unjustified", as although a reason has been given, it is not a justified reason for missing class, according to the school attendance policy.
"Molly is travelling this week with her family"
⇒When a student is on a local or overseas holiday during the school term, the absence is unjustified. A parent's note does not provide justification.
In addition to the above examples, the following reasons are also considered as unjustified:
going out for the day for leisure activities
self-study or completing other work
preparing for a test/revision etc.
These are all examples of absences that would be coded as "T - Truant" because the explanation is trivial and not an acceptable reason to miss class:
I didn't feel like Maths so I took the period off
I had to finish an important assignment
I went down to the river
I went to the shops
We had a test and I wasn't ready for it
Please let us know at mycga@cga.school if you have any questions.