Regular attendance at school is directly related to how well learners achieve.

The Ministry of Education has established new targets for school attendance.

They have divided attendance rates into four categories.

Regular attendance =  90% -100% attendance rate

Irregular attendance = 80-89% attendance rate

Moderately absent=     70-79% attendance rate

Chronically absent = Below 70% attendance rate

By the end of 2026 the target for all NZ schools is to have at least 75% of their students attending at least 90% of the time. We still have significant work to do at Otago Girls’ to reach this target.

To date, we currently have 64% of our students (N = 452) attending at least 90% of the time. There are many students who are hovering around 85-89%, and they just need a small improvement to be nudged into the ninety-plus category. Every period counts.

We want to help reduce any barriers associated with attending school. Please let us know if there are any issues that we can support you with regarding your young person’s attendance. The more we know about any barriers, the more we can proactively try to address them.  Feel free to contact the year level Dean to discuss any attendance concerns you might have.

Students and their parents can see their attendance rate on the HELIX/ EDGE system.

REPORTING ABSENCES

Please remember to email, phone, or use the School App to report any absences. The Attendance Officer is Mrs Jill Grant  jg@otagogirls.school.nz

1. Call 03 474 0496 and press line 1. You can leave a message for Mrs Grant. Please use this phone line rather than calling line zero and being redirected back to the main office, as leaving a message on the attendance phone line helps to centralise absence messages and streamline communication.

2. Using the School App to report any absences. https://schoolappsnz.co.nz/

3. Emailing the Attendance Officer directly - Mrs Jill Grant jg@otagogirls.school.nz

Thank you for your on-going support in this area.