Waerenga-O-Kuri School

Attendance Management Plan

Overarching attendance objectives and strategic priorities

Regular school attendance is essential for the success and well-being of our tamariki.
Being at school every day helps children build strong foundations for learning, develop positive relationships, and stay connected to their peers and teachers.

The New Zealand Government has set a national goal: 80% of students attending school at least 90% of the time. This means students should miss no more than one day every two weeks to stay fully engaged in their learning.

At Waerenga-o-Kuri School, we are dedicated to partnering with whānau to support regular attendance and address any challenges that may prevent tamariki from being at school. Our Stepped Attendance Plan takes a proactive, supportive approach to improving attendance—ensuring every child has the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive.

At Waerenga-o-Kuri School, we aim to:

• Foster a love of learning by providing a rich, engaging, and inclusive curriculum that meets the needs of all learners.
  
  

• Support the holistic development of our tamariki, nurturing their academic, social, emotional, and physical well-being.
  
  

• Build strong partnerships with whānau and the wider community to support every child’s learning journey.
  
  

• Promote regular attendance by creating a safe, welcoming environment where students feel valued and connected.
  
  

• Encourage resilience, creativity, and confidence, empowering students to become capable,       life-long learners.
  
  

• Celebrate diversity and uphold the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, ensuring equity and respect for all culture

Strategic Plan

Strategic Goal 1: Lifting academic achievement for all students in reading, writing and mathematics in a culturally responsive manner utilises attendance data as a measure of success.

Annual Implementation Plan

Our Annual Implementation plan this year focuses on creating an attendance management plan and a stepped response

Current Attendance Data

Term 4 2025 

13% Regular attendance (90% of the time)

71% Irregular attendance (80-89% of the time)

13% Moderate attendance (70-79% of the time)

3% Chronic attendance (less than 69% of the time)

Target

Attendance Management Goal – 2026

By the end of Term 4, 2026, the percentage of students attending school regularly (90% or more of the time) will increase from 13% in Term 4, 2025 to at least 60%.

This improvement will be achieved through the implementation of a consistent, whole-school attendance management approach that prioritises early intervention, strong whānau partnerships, and targeted support for students with ongoing attendance barriers.

Key actions to support this goal include:

• Clear expectations: Reinforcing the importance of regular attendance with students and whānau through newsletters, meetings, and classroom discussions, ensuring attendance expectations are clearly understood by all.

• Daily monitoring: Tracking attendance daily and identifying patterns of absence early, with prompt follow-up by staff when concerns arise.

• Early intervention: Responding quickly to unexplained or repeated absences through phone calls, texts, and face-to-face conversations with whānau.

• Targeted support: Developing individual attendance plans for students identified as at risk of chronic absence, in collaboration with whānau and external agencies where appropriate.

• Positive reinforcement: Acknowledging and celebrating improvements in attendance through class and school-wide recognition.

• Review and reporting: Regularly reviewing attendance data each term to monitor progress toward the goal and reporting outcomes to the Board of Trustees.
  
  

Progress toward this goal will be monitored termly, with strategies reviewed and adjusted as required to ensure sustained improvement in student engagement and attendance

Attendance Policy

You will be required to include

At Waerenga-O-Kuri School, our attendance procedures ensure students are accounted for during school hours and activities as well as emergency events. This allows school staff to identify and respond to student attendance concerns. We recognise the importance of regular attendance to support student welfare and help students achieve their educational potential.

As required by the Education and Training Act 2020 (s 35), students between six and sixteen years old must be enrolled at school. Once enrolled, it is compulsory to attend school regularly, unless a specific exemption has been approved by the school and the Ministry of Education. The board takes all reasonable steps to ensure all students enrolled at Waerenga-O-Kuri School attend school when it is open (Education and Training Act, s 36).

Waerenga-O-Kuri School records and monitors attendance using set attendance procedures. We have annual targets for student attendance, and work with students, parents and caregivers, staff, and external agencies where necessary to improve our levels of student attendance. We share our attendance information with the Ministry of Education, which ensures we receive correct funding and staffing entitlements. We keep our attendance registers for seven years from the date of last entry.

Parent/Guardian and student responsibilities

Parents and guardians have legal obligations to ensure their children attend school (Education and Training Act, s 244). We expect parents/guardians to:

• notify the school as soon as possible if their child is going to be late or absent

• arrange appointments and trips outside school hours or during school holidays where possible

• work with the school to manage attendance concerns.

We share attendance expectations with students and their parents/guardians and caregivers, and require students to be present and attend classes on time.

Parents/Guardians may ask for their child to be excused from certain areas of the curriculum for religious or cultural reasons. The principal reviews these requests and considers the preferences of the student. The school provides supervision for any students who do not participate in certain areas of the curriculum.

School hours and supervision

Waerenga-O-Kuri School staff comply with our schedule and release students at set times. For information about supervision outside of school hours, see Before and After School Supervision.

Students are not allowed to leave the school during school hours unless permission is requested by parents/caregivers and given by the school.

If a student is ill or injured at the school or a school-related activity and needs to be taken elsewhere (e.g. home or a medical facility), we follow our procedures for Managing Injuries and Illness.

Attendance Procedures

Waerenga-O-Kuri School has procedures to record and monitor attendance, and to identify and follow up concerns. We share attendance expectations with students and their parents/caregivers, and staff are responsible for reminding students of these expectations.

Recording attendance

We record attendance accurately to ensure all students are accounted for, including for emergency situations. The school provides attendance data to the Ministry of Education each day, as required by the Education and Training Act 2020 and Education (School Attendance) Regulations 2024. We monitor absence patterns using our student management system and notify parents/caregivers of any concerns.

Classroom teachers, learning support staff, and office staff work together to ensure attendance is recorded correctly. Relievers, itinerant teachers, and specialist teachers provide attendance information as necessary to the relevant teacher, or directly to the school office.

We record students as present or absent using Ministry of Education attendance codes. An absence may be justified (e.g. for medical reasons) or unjustified (e.g. for an unapproved holiday or other unsatisfactory reason), and we record this in our attendance register.

Monitoring attendance

The school office receives attendance information from classroom teachers and/or relievers, itinerant, or specialist teachers, and is responsible for checking and updating attendance information (e.g. due to students arriving late or going home early). Office staff follow up absences, monitor for changes or trends in student attendance, and coordinate with relevant staff as needed.

Staff are encouraged to report any attendance concerns to the principal.

The Ministry of Education collects attendance data from the school, including:

• the proportion of students who attend regularly

• students with five or more full days of unjustified absence in a term

• absences remaining unexplained at the end of each week.

Student absences

Parents/Caregivers are expected to notify the school as soon as possible (before or during the school day) if their child will be absent. A reason for absence must be provided no later than the end of the school week. Waerenga-O-Kuri School will contact parents/caregivers directly if no explanation is provided for student absence.

Under the Education and Training Act 2020 (s 45), the principal may allow a student to be absent from school for up to five days if there is a justified reason for absence (e.g. due to illness, a funeral or tangihanga, or other approved reason at the discretion of the school). For planned absences, requests must be made to the principal at least one week before the planned event.

The principal has discretion to approve or deny requests, based on criteria including:

• the benefit to education for the student (including qualifications and experience of course providers as relevant)

• the length of time away from regular school programmes that the activity will require.

If a student does not arrive at school or goes missing during the day (including from an EOTC event), we check there are no errors in how attendance information was recorded or updated (e.g. if a student has gone home due to illness). If necessary, we follow up with parents/guardians and/or emergency contacts. We may also follow our Missing Student Procedure.

Following up unexplained absences

Waerenga-O-Kuri School takes all reasonable steps to ensure students attend school while it is open, including following up unexplained absences.

Our follow-up actions may include:

• analysing attendance data for patterns of absence

• contacting parents/caregivers to outline attendance expectations

• meeting with students and their parents/caregivers to discuss strategies for improving attendance

• discussing school programmes with relevant staff to better meet the needs of students at risk of disengagement.

Under the Education and Training Act (s 48), the board may appoint an attendance officer who has authority to follow up absences with students and their parents/caregivers directly

• We may also refer students with extended or persistent absences to Attendance services

Approval:

Date: 16.02.2026

School board signature

Helena Connon

Published on: www.wok.school.nz 

Effective date:  16.02.2026

Review date: 7.12.2026