Attendance Tracking

Friday, 28th February 2025 at 7:39am

Being in school regularly (90% of the time and more) is the government expectation. As we have discussed before, even at the 90% mark that is a lot of school being missed, so as close to 100% as possible should be the aim for each child.

Again this week we can see in the media the importance that the Ministry of Education is putting on school attendance with Hilary Barry and Jeremy Wells discussing the issue on primetime television. The efforts of the government to put this into the ‘national conversation’ and of schools to highlight the need for good attendance (such as in these newsletter articles) clarifies that from top to bottom in education we recognise the value to your children of being in school.

There are expectations and obligations for all involved in getting children to school - government, school, family and individual students. Attendance in school matters and one of the expectations of staff in schools across New Zealand is that they mark accurate rolls to record who is in their classes. This allows the government, school and family to be clear as to who is in school, how often and when. At Green Bay High School the team works very hard to make sure that we are keeping you aware when students are not in school and we appreciate the early messaging by families to explain absences. We talk with whole cohort groups, form classes and individual students to impress upon them the need for regular and punctual attendance. We recognise that it takes all parties to make this work.

Our attendance team tracks the attendance of our student body and keeps an eye on gaps, patterns and changes in attendance. We will be in touch with those for whom attendance is proving difficult and try to find ways to support improvements. If you are finding aspects of attendance difficult for you and your child please contact their dean as a matter of urgency. Every day really does matter.

We are fortunate that we have the support of Attendance West services to provide added support for attendance issues for individual children. They can access a variety of opportunities to help where absence is becoming habitual and we will refer children and families to the attendance services where necessary. The West Auckland provision for educational, training and employment pathways for our senior students is also wide and if senior students are finding attendance at school difficult they can be supported by our enthusiastic Careers Department to find a more suitable direction for them to achieve their potential.

We end with a recognition of the support that Green Bay High School families give to the educational progress of their children. Attending school is expected in New Zealand, and the news from a variety of places across the world shows that it is a privilege that we should be proud of and take full advantage of.

Please get in touch with your child's level Dean (or) the Attendance Office (or) by phone 817 8173 ext 234 if there are any questions you have or help that you need.

Chris Woodward
GBHS ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL