1010 Attendance Term 3 2010 - 19 October 2010

Attendance report to BOT October 2010

Whole school attendance was not as high during term 3 as during the previous two terms. This is not unusual as the winter terms are traditionally the worst for attendance, however it is a trend we would like to see less of.

Absence rate in term 3 of 2008 was 17%

Absence rate in term 3 of 2009 was 14%

Absence rate in term 3 of 2010 was 16%

Overall absence rates increased over the three terms from 9%, to 14% and now to 16%

As usual, younger children had a higher absence rate than older children and the trend for attendance to improve as the children get older continues.

There are differences between classes but they still tend to follow the year level pattern. Classes with younger children have more absences, classes with older children have fewer absences. It also needs to be pointed out that in a smaller group such as one class, one or two children can skew the whole class’s average.

There was no difference between girls and boys.

34 pupils had an absence rate of 30% or more. This equates to an average of a day and a half a week. Seven pupils were at school for less than half the time.

These 34 pupils accounted for 40% of all absences. If these pupils are taken out of the equation, our absence rate is only 11.8%. All children with absence rates from 30% will have a letter sent home explaining how important attending school is and that while we don’t want children coming to school sick we still want whanau to be aware of just how much time their child is missing.

On the positive side, we had 18 pupils who attended every day and another 10 who were away for only one day. These children will have their names reported in the school newsletter, will be congratulated at school assembly and receive a duffy book.

Much of the improved attendance may be attributed to our school Truancy Officer, Angie Davis who comes to the school every Wednesday to follow up on specific children and to Hariata phoning daily if a child does not attend school. Last term Angie worked with approximately 16 families on a regular basis and made successful progress with at least 5 of these families who do not appear on our Term 3 list of concerns.