Going to school every day is important for students to develop skills for lifelong learning.

There’s a clear connection between going to school regularly and doing well in the classroom. Higher levels of educational achievement can mean better health, higher incomes, better job stability, and more participation in communities. This all makes society stronger and more connected.

Students aged 6 to 16 years old are legally required to attend school every day. It’s everyone’s responsibility to make sure our children attend and engage in learning from when they first start school. (MOE website 2024)

Regular attendance is defined as 90% attendance during a term - the equivalent of missing less than 5 days of schools in a standard 10-week term. 

Regular attendance over the full year would be the equivalent of missing less than 20 days of school throughout the year.

Holidays in the Middle of Term

You must let the school know if your child is going to be absent or intends to be absent for a portion of the school term for whatever reason. Family holidays or taking time off for extracurricular activities (not organised by school) are not recognised by the MOE as acceptable reasons for being absent.  (MOE website; May 2024).

While we do not support holidays in term time at our kura, we do understand that sometimes it is unavoidable. Please note that if you choose to take your children out during term time we do not expect our teachers to create assignments or collate work for them to do during this time. All work that the teachers have planned is accessible on the Hub sites and the students are welcome to access this at anytime should they wish to try to keep up with the work the other students are doing. Of course students are welcome to email teachers with queries or completed work and teachers will respond when they are able.

Some statistics for you...

- If a student misses 20 days of school every year, by the end of Year 12 they will have missed more than a years' worth of schooling.

- If a student  misses 60 days of school every year, by the end of Year 12 they will have missed more than three and a half years' worth of schooling.

These statistics are quite sobering - attendance matters!

You can view your child's attendance percentages on Hero. Scroll right to the bottom of the 2024 report page.