Currently you will have all seen a focus on school attendance in the media and in particular have seen the decline in attendance over the past few years. New Zealand has lower attendance than other countries and it is still falling.

We want to ensure that all parents and whanau know and understand our expectations around attendance at Mana College. We also want to ensure that you all know about the attendance patterns of your own children.

Attendance is when students are both AT school and IN the classes they are supposed to be in. If your son/daughter misses a week or more of school in a term, they have ‘non regular’ attendance. If they miss a week each term, they will have missed out on a year of schooling by the time they are 16. This is concerning because the evidence is clear that regular attendance is really important for learning, wellbeing and life outcomes.

It is our expectation that students attend school every day unless there is a justified explanation. It is important that you notify the school when your son/daughter is unable to attend and for what reason. You can do this via the Absence line on our office phone or by contacting Cheryl in the main office directly. You can also contact your son/daughter’s learning advisor.

You can access your son/daughter’s attendance data live on our school portal. Please contact the school if you are unsure how to do this, it is really straightforward once you know how. As well as this, an attendance/engagement and achievement report is emailed out to all parents every fortnight.

We need your support in ensuring your child comes to school every day. Please contact your son/daughter’s learning advisor and/or Dean if there are any barriers to this happening. We are here to support and help in any way we can.