Please make sure you have let the office know via the 4whānau portal by 9am if your child is going to be absent.

Geraldine High School provides a broad range of curriculum options and opportunities and encourages students to participate fully in school life. Students are expected to attend school when required, and to be on time for classes. This policy applies for off-site activities as well, such as vocational courses, and EOTC activities.

We monitor the daily attendance of students to:

• ensure their safety both in getting to school, and in accounting for them in an emergency
• identify students with achievement, engagement, or other issues
• meet our legal responsibilities.

Parents and guardians also have legal obligations to ensure their children attend school. The school expects parents to:

• notify the school if their child is going to be absent by phone, text, or email by 9 am
• try to arrange appointments etc. outside school hours or in holidays
• work with the school to manage any attendance issues.

Absences are usually unjustified unless the student is too sick to attend school, or has suffered a bereavement. Sometimes a student might be out of class but should still be marked present, such as when attending a medical appointment. For a full list of absence codes, see Attendance Matters. Holidays should only be taken during school holidays.

Unacceptable levels of absence

Attendance is monitored through our student management system (SMS). Unacceptable levels of absence are followed up with the student, and usually, their parent/guardian.

If the school cannot satisfactorily deal with a student's irregular attendance, the case will be referred to the Attendance Service.

Leaving school during the day

Students may not leave the school during school hours except by special arrangement – for example, a parent request (verbal or written) for the student to attend a medical appointment. The student must sign out at the office.

Exceptions are:

• Lunch passes: Permanent, for students who travel to their own home for lunch each day, and one-off, for students who need to be out of school at lunch time on a particular day. Issuing of this pass is managed by the office, and requires a note from the student's parent/caregiver.
• Senior passes: year 13 students who meet the criteria can be issued a pass to leave the school during lunch times or study periods. The pass can be withdrawn if the student abuses this privilege. This is at the discretion of the dean.

If a student becomes ill at school, follow the procedure for sending sick students home.

All teachers must comply with the school's standard schedule. Students should be supervised until they are formally released.

Also see Missing Student Procedure .

Out of school tuition and activities

Any request from a parent for their child to attend a programme or activity off-site during school hours must be made at least one week before the planned event. The request is approved or declined entirely at the discretion of the principal who considers each application on its merits, using the following criteria:

• The specific relevance and benefit to the student’s education and their learning and development goals.
• The length of time away from regular school programmes that the activity will require.
• The qualifications and experience of the course provider.

If permission is granted for a student to attend such a programme, they are marked as present for that time, with a comment about their attendance at the programme.