Attendance and Absence

School Hours are Monday to Friday 8.30 – 2.30.

We understand that mornings can be busy, but it’s important for students to arrive on time.  Starting the day on time helps them get settled and prepared for their day or learning.  When students are late, it can be harder for them to catch up on important routines that help them stay organised throughout the day.  Regular lateness can build up over time and affect their learning progress and confidence.  We appreciate your support in helping your child arrive on time.

For safety reasons, students must follow the correct procedures when leaving school during the day.  Parents or guardians need to report to the class teacher, who will then inform the office.  The reason for leaving must be clear and specific.  If the reason doesn’t meet our criteria for a justified absence (see below) it will be marked as E (Explained and considered unjustified).

To make the most of their time in class, students will stay in class until a parent of guardian arrives.

For safety reasons, students must follow the correct procedures when leaving school during the day.  Parents or guardians need to report to the class teacher, who will then inform the office.  The reason for leaving must be clear and specific.  If the reason doesn’t meet our criteria for a justified absence (see below) it will be marked as E (Explained and considered unjustified).

To make the most of their time in class, students will stay in class until a parent of guardian arrives.

We record student attendance using specific codes.  Absences can be either ‘justified’ (eg: for medical reasons) or ‘unjustified’ (eg: an unapproved holiday or other reasons).  These are noted in our attendance register.

For more details, please refer to the Attendance Code Resource guide from the Ministry of Education.

Medical Absences (Justified)

The students is at home, or hospital, because of an illness or other medical reason.  A medical certificate may be required for prolonged illness.

Please note: COVID is now coded as a regular medical absence.  We appreciate that whanau will be observing isolation but COVID is no longer coded differently.  The rule of thumb is if you are too sick to attend school, please stay home.

This information helps you decide when it is okay to send your child to school, when you should keep your child at home and when you should contact a health professional for advice.

Bereavement and/or Exceptional Family Circumstances

We acknowledge that valuable time required during bereavement and/or exceptional family circumstances.  We greatly appreciate your communication in letting us know what challenges you and your family may be facing.  Pending the information we receive, we can code absence of this type for up to 5 days as J (justified).  This is judged on a case by case basis.  Should the absence require more than 5 days, from the 6th day onwards, the absence will be coded as E (Explained and considered unjustified).

Appointments

If your child needs to leave school for an appointment or arrives late afterwards, we ask that they attend either the morning or afternoon roll call if at all possible.  If they miss both, they will be marked as ‘M’ for medical.

If possible, please provide the school with confirmation of the appointment (such as an email or phone call) to help us update your child’s absence record and confirm communication with whanau.

Overseas Trips / Family Trips during term time

According to the Ministry guidelines, family trips during term time are not considered a valid reason for missing school.  Because of this, we need to mark your child’s absence as ‘G’ (overseas trip).  This means that we understand why your child is absent, but it doesn’t meet the rules for a justified absence.  If it is for a Cultural Event in New Zealand or overseas, this is considered as J (justified), as long as the school has been informed.

Truancy

If a student misses school and we don’t hear from the family in advance or follow our usual procedures for reporting an absence, the student will be marked as “T” (Truant).

If a student misses four days in a row without any explanation, we will refer the case to the Auckland City Education Services Attendance Department, who will follow up to make sure the student returns to school.

We can change the “Truancy” mark later if needed, but the best way to avoid this is for families to contact the school in advance or on the day of the absence.

Chronic Absence

If a student misses school more than 30% of the time (or has 3 or more days of truancy in a row) and the school has tried to work with the family, we will refer the student to Auckland City Education Services (Attendance Service). This service helps students and whānau improve attendance.

For more information visit: https://www.aces.school.nz/attendance-services

Examples of Unacceptable Reasons for Missing School

Absences are not excused if the reason is not valid of is something like:

• “It was his brother’s birthday”
• “We got up late”
• “I went to the shops”
• “I went to the river”

To make sure the student’s attendance record is correct, we need clear and valid reasons for any absence.

Click on the page to read the Attendance Plan for 2026

Click on the image to read our attendance procedure