Attendance Management Plan

 Strategic Priorities

Regular school attendance is important for students to achieve their educational potential.  The government target is that 80% of students will be regularly attending school by 2030.
Our school currently has 76% regular attendance and a target of lifting regular attendance to 80% by the end of 2026.

Board responsibilities

The board is responsible for taking all reasonable steps to ensure that the school’s students attend the school when it is open for instruction.The board will comply with the provisions in the legislation in relation to student attendance by:

• having a commitment to support students return to regular attendance
• having processes and procedures in place to support a Stepped Attendance Response to student absence that uses data-based thresholds to identify students
• recording all absences, and responding accordingly
• having an effective method in place for identifying and monitoring student absence, including identifying patterns and barriers to student attendance
• publishing this attendance management plan on the school’s website.

Principal responsibilities

The principal is responsible for:

• developing and implementing a stepped attendance response aligned with the thresholds to support student attendance
• ensure that student absence is investigated, responded too and actions taken recorded aligned with the thresholds
• ensure all students, whanau and staff understand the processes and procedures that support student attendance
• report to the board on any trends, barriers to attendance and interventions being used to support student attendance.

Monitoring and Recording Procedures; the school will:

• Use a Ministry-approved Electronic Attendance Register - Etap system.
• Record attendance for every student twice daily (at the start of the school day and after lunch) to comply with the requirement to record attendance for each half-day.
• Ensure all absences are coded using the Ministry of Education's approved attendance codes (e.g., M=Medical, J=Justified, T= no information provided, etc.).

Daily Follow-Up on Unexplained Absences

1. Notification Window: Parents/Caregivers are expected to notify the school of an absence by 8:45am.
2. By 10:00 am, the office administration will complete the absence report.
3. Action: A text message, email, or phone call will be made to the primary caregiver of any student marked as absent without explanation. This communication will occur as soon as practicable on the day of absence.
4. Coding: If all reasonable efforts to contact the caregiver during the day are unsuccessful, the absence will be coded as 'No information provided' (T).

Board Reporting

The Principal will provide the Board with a summary of attendance data at least once per term, including:

• The school's overall regular attendance percentage.
• The number of students in each STAR threshold category.
• A summary of intervention strategies used and their effectiveness if necessary

MonitoringLegislative compliance/ Legislation

This plan is developed in accordance with:

• The Education and Training Act 2020, which requires the Board to take all reasonable steps to ensure students attend whenever the school is open.
• The Education (School Attendance) Regulations 2024, which mandate the duty to record attendance for each half-day and provide records to the Secretary for Education.
• The Ministry of Education’s requirement for all schools to develop and implement an Attendance Management Plan by Term 1, 2026.

Attendance Management Procedure- Stepped Attendance Response

As a State-Integrated Catholic school, Mt Carmel is committed to the holistic development of every student, underpinned by our faith and values. We recognise that regular attendance is fundamental to a student’s academic achievement, social, emotional, and spiritual development. Our attendance management processes will be implemented with a focus on care, communication, and working in partnership with our students and whānau (families), reflecting our school’s special character.

Parent/Whanau responsibilities:

• To ensure their child attends school every day they are able and school is open
• Reinforce good attendance habits
• Communicate opening with the school

School responsibilities

• Clear communication to parents and students on attendance expectations on enrolment, at the start of the year and each term
• Communicate to patents what steps the school wil take if the student is absent from school
• Monitor student attendance
• Provide students with regular updates on their own attendance
• Report regularly to parents on attendance of their child

School Procedures

• The principal will delegate duties, so as to manage the recording of electronic student attendance register and the follow-up procedures for non- attending students.
• Office staff will support teachers to maintain accurate up-to-date attendance information.
• Classroom teachers are responsible for recording student attendance to their class each half day basis.
• Class teachers are responsible for maintaining accurate and up-to -date records and supporting the attendance systems. They will also monitor and follow-up on lateness and attendance, other attendance issues with support from Office staff.
• Class teachers and the Leadership team are responsible for monitoring student attendance for their respective groups, ensuring that parents are informed of attendance concerns. Senior staff and relevant personnel will be kept informed of serious student absence situations.
• Outside agencies will be used as appropriate to support attendance.
• Students will be identified at thresholds. Follow up response actions will be tailored to the reason for absence
• Patterns of attendance and specific interventions being used will be evaluated by the Principal or Leadership team termly to review outcomes and effectiveness of these interventions