Discovery College must meet Hong Kong Government requirements regarding the length of the school year.

School Day Hours

Secondary

No students, with the exception of Year 12 and Year 13 students (refer to Senior Student privileges), are expected to be present on campus before 8:00am or after 4:00pm unless involved with academic or co-curricular activities. On weekends, no Year 7 to 11 students are permitted in the school at any time unless they have permission and are accompanied by a teacher.

Primary

No students are expected to be present on campus before 8:00am. Parents must provide supervision from 3:10pm for Years 1-3 and 3:20pm for Years 4-6. If their child is required to wait at school between the end of classes and the start of any activity.

All students should arrive in the morning between 8:00am and 8:15am to allow time to go to their classrooms, unpack their bags, greet their teacher and prepare for the start of the day. Parents bringing children to school in the morning are asked to leave the classroom before the start of the school day so learning can commence without distraction.

Attendance Procedures

Full-time attendance is mandatory for all students. Smart Cards are no longer used for swiping in; attendance is taken directly by teachers in class.

Primary Attendance & Punctuality

• Arrival: All students must be in class by 8:20am to be considered present and on time.

• Arrival between 8:20am and 8:30am: Students should go directly to class, where they will be marked as late.

• Arrival after 8:30am: Students must sign in at reception before going to class.

Secondary Attendance & Punctuality

• Arrival: All students must be in their Learning Team by 8:20am to be considered present and on time.

• Arrival between 8:20am and 8:30am: Students should go directly to their Learning Team, where they will be marked as late.

• Arrival after 8:30am: Students must sign in at reception and then proceed to their first lesson, where they will be marked as late.

  
  

Absences and Requests for Leave

Parents/caregivers must inform the school if their child is absent on any given day or will be absent for an extended period. Unexplained absences will be followed up via email or phone call as soon as possible.

Notifying the School

Parents are required to notify the college if a child is sick or absent BEFORE 8:00am via: ​

Email: office@dc.edu.hk Call: 3969 1000 ( leave a message if required)

Mandatory Education Bureau (EDB) Reporting

If a student is absent for 7 consecutive days, regardless of the reason, a mandatory report will be sent to the Education Bureau (EDB) as required by Hong Kong law.

Absence Thresholds & Support

When absence levels exceed specific thresholds, parents will be contacted, and supportive measures will be implemented to help restore regular attendance.

Primary Attendance Threshold

• 85% Attendance: Parents will be contacted to initiate supportive measures.

Secondary Attendance Threshold

• 90%: Initial concern

• 85%: Persistent absentee

• 80%: Significant absentee

• 65%: Serious absentee

• 50%: Chronic absentee

When an absence becomes a concern, Student Support staff, parents, and the student are expected to work together to prioritise school attendance and bring absence rates back to healthy levels. Medical certificates may be requested for significant medical absences.

Medical Appointments

Students are strongly encouraged to make medical appointments during holiday or after school hours. In the case of unavoidable or emergency appointments, parents are required to notify the College as soon as possible using the absence procedures above.

Essential and Non-Essential Travel

Parents wishing to have their child take extended leave (2 or more days) from school during term-time do so under the following conditions:

• The College will determine what is essential travel and what is non-essential travel. For essential travel, students can expect some negotiation around assessment dates and information about the work to be covered in their absence;

• For non-essential travel, staff are not required to provide any more than a summary of the work to be covered and assessment dates will remain unchanged.

Requests should be made as early as possible so any adjustments to teaching and learning prior to term-time departure/arrival can be forecast. Requests should be made in writing to the Head of Secondary or Head of Primary. Because leave can significantly interrupt the process of learning, parents are strongly encouraged to organise holidays during school breaks.

Lateness

Students are expected to have arrived at school and swiped in (Years 4-13) in order to be in their classrooms by 8:20am ready to start the school day. Any student arriving from 8:20 am onwards will be deemed to be late. Parents of students with recurrent lateness will be informed. Lateness will be recorded on all school reports with the following comments:

• 0-4 days – Acceptable

• 5-9 days – Cause of concern

• 10 or more days – Unacceptable

Students are also expected to maintain an operational swipe card and should replace a lost/inoperative card straight away. Concerns over students repeatedly signing in manually / failing to bring an operational card will be followed up with the student and their family.

Primary Students leaving School during the day

Primary students are not at any time permitted to leave the school grounds unaccompanied. When a student is required to leave school early for a specific reason, parents should notify the class teacher via email with the arrangements that include time of collection, adult collecting and reason for early departure. The collecting adult will be expected to sign the student out at the front office prior to collecting from the classroom.

Secondary Students leaving school during the day

Secondary students can leave early, if parents send the front office an email informing the school that they student will be leaving early. Without parent’s consent students will not be allowed to leave the school campus.

After School Care and Supervision

Primary students are not permitted to remain inside the school grounds after 3:30 pm, unless unaccompanied by an adult and participating in an after school club/sporting activity. All primary students attending after school activities must be supervised by an adult during this time.

Length of School Day

• The school day begins at 8:20 for all students, and they should be in their classrooms by this time.

• Students from Years 1-3 finish school at 3:10pm and can be picked up from the Foreshore.

• Students from Years 4-6 finish at 3:20pm and can be picked up from the Main School Entrance.

• Secondary students are dismissed at 3:30pm.

• All students have a morning recess and lunchtime break, at different times for primary and secondary students.

Length of School Year

• Discovery College will be open for tuition the equivalent of 185 days in each academic year.

• Days lost for inclement weather conditions are not required to be made up at the end of the year.

• Information on events/activities will be available on the College’s annual calendar, the website and through the weekly e-newsletter, The Explorer.