Attendance rules for IB DP and Pre-IB students at MH

Attendance rules for the IB programme at Hamrahlíð College (MH) 

Main rule

Students must attend all lessons and exams punctually unless they have legitimate reasons for their absences.

Minimum attendance for each course, after taking sickness and/or leave into account, is 90%. (See more detailed rules on illness registrations below).

Rules for minimum attendance in the IB programme over the course of the semester:

If a student's overall attendance is below 60% when five weeks of the semester have passed, the student is deemed to have failed the semester and will be withdrawn from the programme.

If a student's overall attendance is below 70% when ten weeks of the semester have passed, the student is deemed to have failed the semester and will be withdrawn from the programme.

In special circumstances these rules can be bypassed.

General rules regarding student illness

Notifications about illness are made in Inna:

• Illness must be registered on the same day. Illnesses cannot be entered retroactively.
• Guardians of students under the age of 18 need to register their illness, but students aged 18 and over can register the illness themselves.
• Illness can only be registered for whole days. If a student falls ill in the middle of the school day, the person informs the school office before going home.

The teacher registers the absence of students in Inna with the letter F (for fjarvist, eng. absence). If illness has been reported, the letter V (for veikindi, eng. illness) is added to the registration and thus the absence is considered explained.

A good rule is for students to inform their teachers of absence from class by email or the next time they attend class, as the absence could have had an impact on their assignment submission or caused them to have missed exams in class.

Doctor’s notes and extended periods of illness:

• Students do not need to submit doctor’s notes for short term illnesses.
• Certificates due to long-term illness, as well as diagnoses that the school needs to be aware of, should be sent to the IB study counsellor.
• Students who cannot participate partially or fully in sports, for whatever reason, must submit an explanatory doctor’s note to their physical education teacher.
• If the combined illness in one semester exceeds 12 school days, the student needs to be in contact with IB coordinator about their situation.

Long term absence due to illness does not in itself exclude a student from being in the IB programme. A student who is only able to attend school partially due to a long-term illness must, however, cooperate closely with the IB coordinator and IB study counsellor on the planning of their studies.

Leaves of absence

Students who are granted leaves of absence are responsible for all completing all course assignments and cannot expect a change in their course assessment due to the leave. The student must inform their teachers in a timely manner about the upcoming leave.

In general, IB students should apply for a leave with the IB coordinator.

• Guardians apply for a permit for students under 18 years of age.
• Students aged 18 and over can apply for a leave of absence.
• When applying for a leave of absence students must always state a reason.

School attendance grade

Students are given a grade for attendance at the end of each semester. The grade is determined by both attendance and punctuality, with each unexplained absence from class being equal to coming late to class three times.

The school attendance grade is given as follows, after taking sickness and/or leave into account:

• Pass (S): 90%-100% school attendance.
• Fail (F): attendance below 90%

A student who fails attendance will be called in for a meeting with the IB coordinator before the start of the next semester to discuss their future in the programme.