There is no safe limit of non attendance, for your child's success in education.

Regular school attendance makes a big difference. In Aotearoa New Zealand, learners are expected to attend school every day the school is open. In 2022 school attendance across New Zealand fell to alarming rates. This is concerning because the evidence is clear that regular attendance is really important for learning, well-being and life outcomes.

Please remember the Ministry of Education set the requirements around attendance across New Zealand and have very strict/clear guidelines around how attendance is coded and what is acceptable for absence. These are reported to the MOE every term. With the new MOE attendance criteria, there are 4 categories:

- 90-100% Regular Attendance

- 80-90% Irregular Attendance

- 70-80% Moderately Absent

- 0-70% Chronically Absent

In Term 2 our school data showed a decrease in attendance statistics compared to Term 1, but it was better than Term 2 in 2022. 

The percentage of students that fell into the  'Moderately Absent' category for Term 2 was 14% and the 'Chronically Absent' was 9%. Please check your child's attendance regularly using the parent portal and fortnightly reports and ensure your child is at school each day and falling in the 'Regular Attendance' category as this is when they will have the most successful outcomes in education. 

Any absence should be communicated with the school office and clear detailed reason for the absence given - not just "Harold the giraffe won't be at school today". 

Any unexplained absence requires a note to be sent to school or home to make contact with the office otherwise this is changed to 'T' - Truant. 

Can you take your child out of school for a holiday during term time?

No, a holiday is not an acceptable Ministry of Education reason to take your child out of school. Holidays should be planned outside of term time. 

Events like a birthday or a special day’s shopping or a rest day, aren’t considered valid reasons for being away from school either and are coded as unjustified.