At Strathfield College we believe that there is a direct relationship between the successful completion of assignments, attendance and active class participation.

In your vocational education and training (VET) course, some of the skills required for success in the workplace include

•  Communicating ideas and information
•  Working with others and in teams

These skills are gained by interaction with class members, through participation and group projects in class.

Trainers will monitor and assess students’ attendance and academic progress on a daily, weekly basis and then again at term end.

The College will monitor, record and assess students’ attendance each week and across each study term period, which is approximately two months.

Students will be able to access their attendance records through their trainer at any time.

Where a student does not maintain satisfactory attendance of 80% across a study term period or where an absence of more than 20 consecutive hours without prior approval occurs, an intervention program begins. The student will be first contacted by email when their attendance falls to 85% or when they are absent for more than 20 consecutive hours. They will receive a letter by email informing them of the situation and the implications of a falling attendance rate.

The College will next contact the student by email when the attendance falls to 75% through a Warning letter. The VET DoS will check the academic progress of the student and where the academic progress is also not satisfactory, a plan to improve will be decided.

Where attendance falls below 70% (69% or below) a student will be issued, via email, a Notification of Intention to Report letter from Strathfield College outlining the school’s intention to report to DEEWR-DIAC for failure to maintain satisfactory attendance.

At that time the student will have 20 working days to appeal. If no appeal is made or if the appeal is not upheld, the student will be reported to DEEWR-DIAC for unsatisfactory attendance.

Where it is not possible to contact the student via email or telephone, the CoE will be cancelled automatically as a breach of student visa conditions.

The student may appeal the decision to report them to DEEWR-DIAC for unsatisfactory attendance on the following grounds:

a.      Strathfield College fails to record or calculate a student’s marks accurately,

b.      There are compassionate or compelling circumstances, or

c.      Strathfield College has not implemented its intervention strategy and other policies according to its documented policies and procedures that have been made available to the student.

The student may seek help from the Overseas Student Ombudsman,  www.oso.gov.au or phone 1300 362 072 for more information.

Further information is available in the Appeals section of the Student Handbook.