Attendance

Every day matters: Partnering for attendance success

Regular and consistent school attendance is the cornerstone of your child’s academic success, and there is a powerful correlation between high levels of attendance and high levels of achievement. When your child is in the classroom every day, they engage directly with sequential lessons, participate in vital group learning, and complete schoolwork without the stress of playing catch-up. To ensure our learners unlock their full educational potential, our school goal is to achieve a 90% attendance rate for every student. Meeting this regular attendance target ensures they do not miss out on core educational objectives and remain confidently on track with their learning.

Regular presence helps young people to:

• build and maintain strong, trusting relationships with their peers and teachers,
• create a supportive network,
• prevent social isolation, and
• foster a deep sense of belonging and community connection.

Through these daily interactions, students develop essential communication skills, empathy, and teamwork habits that help them grow into confident individuals.

Being on time for school

Arriving on time and attending regularly teaches children valuable self-discipline and time management habits from an early age. These positive routines form a foundational skill set for their future, directly preparing them for higher education and adult employment.

Being present at school regularly but late every day reduces your child's overall attendance rate significantly.  It is critical your child starts their day well by being on time and ready for the start of the school day.  If your child remains chronically late for school, we will contact you to discuss strategies to support your child to attend school on time.
When whānau and the school collaborate to prioritize daily attendance, we work together to set our young people up to become reliable, responsible, and resilient adults.

Justified v Unjustified absences from school

Justified absences from school are legitimate reasons such as:

• illness or injury (a medical certificate should be provided for medium-long term illnesses)
• family bereavement
• significant cultural or religious event
• appointments for the child
• Principal's direction

Unjustified absences from school:

• birthday celebrations
• babysitting or cleaning the house
• looking after parents or grandparents
• holidays during term time
• visiting family 

'Family emergencies' are often used as a reason for a child's absence from school.  Unless we know what the emergency is, this is an unjustified absence.  Families who use this explanation regularly will be contacted by the school to discuss this is more detail and offer support where appropriate. 

Patterns of absence

HERO has a useful colour coded calendar that quickly shows absences.  This also highlights any patterns of absence that we may need to discuss with you.  

Te Paerangi Attendance Management Plan 2026

To learn more about how we monitor attendance, review thresholds and work alongside families to support our students, you can view our Attendance Management Plan below.

Attendance Management Plan 2026