From our Tumuaki / Principal

Ngā mihi nui kia koutou katoa, warm greetings to you all.

It has been another busy week at school. We are very appreciative of you all for supporting our kaiako on Wednesday with the paid union meetings. Thank you for picking up your tamariki early where you could, or completing the registration form to let us know if they were staying at school. Our team were able to get the information they needed, and discuss the details of the latest offer. They are now voting on the fourth offer, and we will know the outcome later next week.

Amesbury School Attendance

Attendance at school is linked to both student wellbeing and to attainment. Here is the overview of Amesbury attendance since we opened in 2012.

Student wellbeing is a key priority of the education system. Education studies confirm that attending school regularly predicts the best outcomes for wellbeing on average. Attendance is also linked to student attainment in secondary students. Recent research shows that each additional half day absence from school predicts a consistent reduction in the number of NCEA credits a student subsequently attains. Ākonga who are absent even 5-10% of the time (still considered “regular” attendance) obtain fewer NCEA credits than those with slightly higher attendance. There is no “safe” level of non-attendance.

Our school attendance is looking higher than last year so far, but is still at lower levels than other previous years. Of biggest concern is the sharp increase of students attending school less than 80% of the time. Generally we have had between 1-4% of students in this category of attendance. In 2022, and Term 1 2023, we have had 9% of tamariki at this level of absence. Having an attendance rate of 80% or lower means missing at least 1/5 of their time at school, which equates to close to one whole term of learning. Here is advice for parents around student attendance from the Education Review Office.

Another trend we have noticed is an increase in the number of ākonga taking holiday breaks or travelling overseas during term time during 2022 and the first half of 2023. While we do appreciate that Covid has significantly impacted our ability to connect with whānau, especially family overseas, we do ask that families look to book travel within school holiday breaks wherever possible. The evidence is clear: every day of school matters, and missing school leads to lower achievement.

We will keep reporting to our community on our school attendance, and we are looking to continue improving our attendance levels, particularly increasing the proportion of students attending school ‘regularly’ (over 90%), and decreasing the proportion of ākonga attending less than 80% of the time.

And so we move into a long weekend. Here’s hoping the sun keeps shining and you all enjoy spending time with whānau and friends.

Kia pai te rā whakatā - enjoy your weekend, especially the extra day of rest.

Ngā manaakitanga, 

Urs Cunningham