Forest Lake State High School

Every Minute of Every Day at Forest Lake SHS Counts ….

There is a clear link between school attendance and engagement in the teaching and learning process and student performance at school. The Every Minute of Every Day at Forest Lake SHS Counts initiative is a new and proactive community and business partnership designed to specifically target school attendance as a means of improving individual student and school performance.

With the support of local police, the Forest Lake Village Centre Management and the Forest Lake Community Consultative Committee, this community approach to reducing student unexplained absenteeism and truancy commenced in March 2009.

Using the catch cry of Every Minute of Every Day Counts at Forest Lake State High School, the local businesses have agreed to support the school’s drive to encourage attendance and improve student learning outcomes by refusing to serve our students between the hours of 9.30am and 2.30pm Monday to Friday. This ensures that every student is attending school when they should be or going home as is required on a Wednesday afternoon (year 11 and 12 students only). Students who are with their parents or have permission to leave the school eg a sign out slip indicating specific permission to access the shopping centre are exempt from this.

The above arrangement have absolutely no impact on the vast majority of students who do the right thing all day every day of the school year. (In 2008, our unexplained absence rate was approximately 4% - low for a large secondary school.)

The Forest Lake SHS community thanks local businesses for their support in assisting students to do their best at school, reach their goals and maximise their life opportunities. Your support is making a difference!

Special thanks to David Robinson from McDonald’s for having the courage to lead the way.