VPRS 19954 Attendance Rolls

Full description

This series consists of files documenting student attendance at Templestowe High School (School No. 8375) (VA 5303), comprising two primary record types: ‘Class Rolls’ and the subsequent ’Attendance Rolls’. Both types appear to have been recorded using standardised stationery produced by the Education Department (VA 714) or its successors.

School attendance became mandatory in Victoria in 1873, with the Education Department (VA 714) responsible for regulating attendance. From 1971 this responsibility shifted to the Social Welfare Department (VA 946) before returning to the Ministry of Education and Training (VA 1112) in 1982. Around 1993, the Department of Education (VA 3098) stopped employing regional attendance officers, and the responsibility for regulating attendance shifted to individual schools.

‘Class rolls’ were in use from the 1870s up to at least the 1910s. A class roll was created for each school and was recorded half-yearly, starting 1st January or 1st July respectively. Student names were listed in order by class, with attendance marked twice daily and total attendance recorded for each month and quarter. The rolls also included space for general remarks, where members of the Board of Advice could note their observations during school visits and record the number of children present at the time.

The record types used between the discontinuation of class rolls and the introduction of attendance rolls remain subject to further research.  

‘Attendance rolls’ appear to have been introduced in the 1960s. These were created for each year level’s home group and recorded daily attendance for each month of the school year. They included each student’s student number, full name, age as of January 1 of the school year and daily and monthly attendance. A student’s attendance was typically marked using the standardised symbols.

From the 1980s, schools began transitioning to the Computerised Administrative System Environment in Schools (CASES) database, a centralised digital enrolment system maintained by the Education Department (VA 714) or its successors. Initially not widely used, the then Department of Education (VA 3098) introduced an updated CASES21, which became the mandatory system of record for financial information and reporting for all Victorian government schools from 2006. While CASES21 was also used for student and school administration processes, schools were permitted to utilise other third-party software to meet their needs in conjunction with the system. This system provided the means through which digital records capturing similar information could be created.

This series may include “Attendance Roll” reports from the CASES (or CASES21) database, generated by the school on a certain date.  The printed report has been kept where the original born digital record is unlikely to exist or is no longer accessible.

This series does not include items titled ‘Attendance Roll and Examination Registers’ or ‘Attendance Rolls and Teacher Reports’ which can contain student’s personal information such as student address and teacher comments on student competencies and achievements.