Attendance Management Plan 2026

Vision, Goals, and Targets
This plan is based on the conviction that consistent attendance is the single most important factor in student success and wellbeing.

Key Objectives and Strategic Goals

Foster a school-wide culture where attendance is perceived as a critical community value, driven by a positive and engaging learning environment.
Ensure timely, data-informed intervention strategies are applied consistently and equitably, stopping patterns of absence before they become entrenched.
Proactively identify and dismantle systemic or personal barriers that disproportionately affect attendance rates for specific student groups.
Strengthen communication and collaborative processes with whānau, caregivers, and external agencies to support student attendance.

School Attendance Targets

The Board of Trustees has set the following performance indicators for the current academic year, aligning with national goals to address chronic absenteeism:

Overall School Attendance Rate - Increase of 10% on previous years
Reduction in Chronic Absenteeism (Students below 90%)- Reduced by 10% on previous years.
Increase in Excellent attendance (over 95%) on previous year.
Unjustified absence rate (less than) 0.5%

Governance, Roles, and Accountability

Board Responsibility

The Board of Trustees holds ultimate accountability for the implementation and effectiveness of this plan. The Board will:

Investigate and Respond: The Board, working through the Principal and delegated senior leadership, will investigate and respond to all significant student absences (generally defined as 5 or more days unjustified in a term), in line with the procedures outlined in this Attendance Management Plan.

Record Actions: All formal actions taken in relation to ongoing or chronic student absences, including formal communications, agency referrals, and disciplinary measures (where applicable), will be recorded accurately in the Student Management System (SMS) and reported to the Board monthly.

Oversight: Review monthly reports on attendance trends and resource allocation for attendance support.

Roles and Responsibilities

Principal/Leadership - Overall coordination, monitoring of targets, resource allocation, and reporting to the Board.

Teachers - Accurate daily attendance recording and timely communication of unexplained absences to the office.

Whanau/Parents - Ensuring students attend school daily and promptly informing the school with a valid reason for any absence.

Attendance officer - Daily follow-up on unexplained absences, initial parental contact, and maintaining accurate attendance records.

Clear Process to Identify and Respond to Absences

The school employs a graduated response model based on absence thresholds, ensuring intervention intensity increases with the severity of the attendance concern.

Daily Identification Process
Initial Tally: Teachers record attendance within the first 10 minutes of the lesson/day.

Office Follow-up (Day 1): Office staff verify all unexplained absences by 9:30 AM via text/app,

Recording: All communication and received reasons are coded immediately in the SMS according to Ministry guidelines.

Attendance Thresholds and Interventions (Strategies, Actions) Days absent per term:

0-3 days absent (94% - 100%) Low concern - Prevention/positive reinforcement- recognition and celebration of excellent attendance in assemblies, newsletters and with certificates.

4- 7 days absent (86% - 93%) Moderate risk - Intervention: Formal letter/email generated by SMS alerting whānau to the pattern. Attendance Officer/Teacher calls whānau to discuss reasons, re-state expectations, and offer basic support (e.g., wake-up call plan).

8 - 12 days absent - High Risk - Intervention: Formal meeting convened by a Senior Leader with the whānau and student. Development of a documented Individual Attendance Improvement Plan (I-AIP) with clear, measurable targets and review dates. Referral to internal support (Counsellor, Pastoral Care).

13+ days absent - Chronic/Extreme risk - Intervention: Principal or delegated Board member makes contact. Mandatory formal review of the I-AIP. Statutory Referral: Collaboration with external agencies (e.g., social services, health/truancy services) to mandate or facilitate support.

Identifying and Responding to Attendance Barriers

A key focus of this plan is moving beyond simply noting an absence to understanding and addressing the root cause.

Identification of Underlying Causes

In interventions relating to 4+ days absent in a term, the school will use structured interviews, surveys, and home-school liaison meetings to explore potential barriers, including:

Health Issues: Chronic illness, mental health, or access to medical care.
Family/Whānau Challenges: Caregiving responsibilities, domestic circumstances, or housing insecurity.
School Factors: Bullying, disengagement, academic anxiety, or lack of cultural responsiveness.
Logistical Barriers: Transport issues, lack of appropriate clothing/uniform, or financial hardship.

Responsive Actions and Interventions

Interventions are tailored based on the identified barrier:

School Anxiety/Disengagement - Counselling/referral, buddy program, timetable modification, or targeted mentoring.

Logistical/Financial need - Provision of uniform/clothing grants, support for public transport, referral to the school social worker for assistance with essential resources.

Complex health/wellbeing issues - External Agency Referral: Formal referral to health services, Ministry of Education Attendance Service, or other relevant social services, ensuring all communication and actions are documented in the I-AIP.

Lack of whanau understanding - Home visit by a Senior Leader or Māori/Pasifika Liaison Officer to build relational trust and jointly develop strategies for morning routines and transport.

Monitoring, Measurement, and Review

Monitoring and Measurement
Progress towards the Board's attendance targets will be continuously monitored:

Weekly: Senior leadership review SMS reports for students hitting the 4-day and 8-day absence thresholds, ensuring intervention actions are triggered on time.
Monthly: Data is aggregated and reported to the full staff for discussion, identifying trends in specific year levels, classes, or student subgroups.
Termly: The Board receives a comprehensive report detailing overall attendance rate, progress against the Reduction in Chronic Absenteeism target, and the success rate of the I-AIPs implemented that term. This report explicitly compares school performance against any relevant government or district-wide targets.

Plan Review

The Attendance Management Plan is a living document that will be formally reviewed and ratified annually by the Board of Trustees in Q4.

The review process will include:

Data Analysis: Evaluation of the success in meeting all quantitative targets over the last 12 months.

Stakeholder Feedback: Collection of feedback from staff, whānau (via surveys or focus groups), and external agencies on the clarity and effectiveness of the procedures.

Policy Alignment: Checking alignment with the latest Ministry of Education attendance guidelines and statutory requirements.

Adjustment: Strategies: Thresholds, and resources will be adjusted to address any identified areas of low performance or emerging community needs for the following year.