“There is no ‘safe’ level of non-attendance - Every day matters” (Ministry of Education)

As you will have seen reported in the media, there is a school attendance crisis in New Zealand. Although attendance has always been a challenge in New Zealand schools, it has been exacerbated in recent years due to covid. Mackenzie College is not immune to this crisis of attendance, and we need to take action to ensure that our young people experience success academically and that their well-being is flourishing.

The Ministry of Education defines ‘regular’ attendance as attending school 90% of the time, this equates to no more than one day per fortnight away from school (Ministry of Education, 2022). Nationally, the percentage of students who ‘regularly’ attended school in term three, 2022, was 46.0%. At Mackenzie College, the percentage of students who ‘regularly’ attended school in term three, 2022, was 43.8%. This data puts us in line with the national average and highlights the gravity of this challenge. It would be really easy to say that we are following the national trend of decreasing attendance and that the reasons why are simply out of our control. However, we know that here at Mackenzie College, we are better than that. We have a rich history of punching above our weight and are often above the national average in most of the statistics that count. We need to do better when it comes to attendance, and we need to start now.

“School attendance is the most crucial prerequisite for quality education - students can not learn when they are not at school”

The Ministry of Education has done extensive research into the link between attendance and achievement. A report written by the Ministry in 2020 found that when attendance is below 95%, there is a decrease in the level of achievement. Although high, 95% attendance still means a one-half day off school per fortnight. Although our government uses 90% as the cut-off for regular attendance, in other countries, this would be the attendance % that would trigger external support and intervention. The report also found that students who attend school 100% of the time achieve 13-15 credits more than those who attend 90% of the time.

Our achievement rates at Mackenzie College are generally high, and we often have some of the highest in the region. Despite attendance concerns, many of our students still seem to do ‘ok,’ but perhaps not the best they could. Although our students are achieving NCEA at incredibly high rates, they are not always gaining the merit and excellence endorsements they are capable of. If we take level one, for example, in 2022, 11.8% of our students gained level one endorsed with excellence, and 29.4% of our students gained level one endorsed with Merit. The national averages were 19.5% and 31.9%, respectively. Clearly, there is room for improvement when it comes to endorsements, and it is clear that increased attendance would support the deeper learning required to achieve at higher levels.

Where to next?

This is the first of a number of newsletter communications around attendance. This first entry is to raise awareness about the extent of the problem, both nationally and here at Mackenzie College. Further articles will highlight some strategies that you can try at home to help improve your child's attendance. As a school, we are also going to be implementing a number of interventions to ensure that we are supporting students who need to increase their attendance. In the meantime, I challenge you to ask your child about their attendance, and ask if they know the percentage of school they have attended so far this year (they should be able to see this in their student portal, or they can ask their form teacher). Sit down and have a conversation about this number. It may lead to some interesting discussions!

If you have any queries about your child’s attendance or any pastoral matter, please feel free to get in touch with us. I have included the contact details for our pastoral team below

Ethan Smith - Deputy Principal (Pastoral)

E: ethans@mackcollege.school.nz

P: (03) 685 8603 ext: 711

Jo Parke - Y11-13 Dean

E: jop@mackcollege.school.nz

Steve Onyett - Y9-10 Dean

E: steveo@mackcollege.school.nz

Rachael Linklater - Y7-8 Dean

E: rachaell@mackcollege.school.nz

Thank you