A 6-year-old girl is in Child Youth and Family care after her parents failed to pick her up from school.
The incident has sparked a call from a principals' association spokesman for parents to take responsibility for their children.
Teachers at Tikipunga Primary School stayed with the child for four hours while searching for her parents before they took her to Whangarei police station.
It follows a number of cases in Northland where children have been left unsupervised.
Whangarei police Acting Sergeant Craig Burrows said the girl was with the school principal at Tikipunga Primary School from about 3pm when school finished on Tuesday.
Police were contacted about 7pm and the girl was taken to Whangarei police station while officers tried to contact her parents.
They were unsuccessful and about 8pm she was placed in the care of Child Youth and Family.
Tikipunga Primary School principal Donna Donnelly said the student had been supervised by teachers while they tried to find her parents, which included driving to her home.
"We exhausted all the contact details we had to no avail," Mrs Donnelly said.
"She was fine. She was drawing pictures and had a cup of Milo and was as good as gold."
Mrs Donnelly said it highlighted the need for parents and caregivers to keep the school informed of their current contact details.
A senior Northland teacher said the number of children not being collected was on the rise.
Tai Tokerau Principals Association president Pat Newman said there were about two or three incidents every year in Whangarei.
He said while there were some genuine communication mix-ups, in most cases drugs or alcohol were the root of the problem and the children were known to CYF.
"It generally comes down to the family don't take responsibility for their own children," Mr Newman said.
"There are a lot of children out there looking after themselves ... it's deplorable."
Child, Youth and Family national operations manager John Henderson confirmed the agency was contacted by police about the young girl and she had been placed with whanau and was safe.
"I understand an older sibling was to escort the girl home from school, but for some reason this didn't happen and the sibling left school without her," Mr Henderson.
"It is very concerning that this occurred and Child Youth and Family are working closely with the police to determine exactly what happened."
He said CYF would continue to work with the whanau.
The latest incident comes after six Northland children were left unsupervised in a public playground and were taken into Child Youth and Family care after police were unable to find their parents in January.
The six children, aged between 4 and 12, were left unsupervised at a public playground in Whangarei's Town Basin from 10.30am to 1.30pm.
Concerned members of the public called police.
Police asked the children where their parents were and were told they had gone to Countdown supermarket.
But a search by police of the supermarket failed to find the
two mothers - who were
sisters.
The incident came 10 days after two children aged 2 and 3 were found wandering on the street while their parents were passed out drunk on the floor of their Otangarei home.
Those two children were also placed in the care of Child, Youth and Family.
Child taken from parents after school steps in
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