Northland principal lauds the new school Attendance and Engagement Strategy

Northland Principals' Association president Pat Newman welcomes the strategy to support schools to locate and re-engage young people currently lost in the system. Photo / Michael Cunningham

by Avina Vidyadharan

A Government strategy aiming to turn around years of declining school attendance has been welcomed by a Northland education leader.

Earlier this month Associate Education Minister Jan Tinetti announced a new school Attendance and Engagement Strategy.

The strategy aims to see 70 per cent of students at school regularly by 2024 and 75 per cent by 2026.

Tai Tokerau Principals' Association president Pat Newman's warm reception comes at a time when Northland schools are seeing some of the lowest attendances on record.

In term 1 this year, the region's schools have seen the lowest attendance, averaging 73 per cent compared to the national average of 85 per cent.

A similar trend has continued for term 2 so far, with Northland schools reporting an average of 80 per cent attendance compared to the national average of 84 per cent.

Nationally, fewer than 60 per cent of students currently attend school regularly - defined as being present at least nine days each fortnight.

Around eight per cent miss at least three days of school each fortnight - a number the strategy aims to lower to five per cent by 2024 and three per cent by 2026.

Newman said the region's principals could be assured the strategy would support schools to locate and re-engage young people currently lost in the system.

"Minister Tinetti left her own electorate campaign in Tauranga to fly back to Wellington and address over 100 regional principals at their annual strategy meeting so that she could capture their feedback," he said.

Newman was pleased to see Minister Jan Tinetti willing to listen to the profession's feedback on the strategy.

As Tinetti announced the strategy she spoke of how Covid-19 had further accelerated the decline in school attendance, which had been waning since 2015.

She said work was underway to develop new targets for responding to unexplained absences. Part of that included a focus on school notifications to whānau on the day of absence and further school action when unjustified absence continued.

"Regular attendance is a community-wide issue that needs community-wide attention," Tinetti said.

Regional teams would expand their efforts to support schools and kura to collaborate more with their communities – including Māori, Pacific and disabled learners – to design ways to help remove barriers.

"This strategy supports evidence-based local solutions that are developed by those who know their school communities best and can respond to their needs," Tinetti said.

"We all share responsibility and have a role to play to reverse this trend and lift attendance back up. Parents and whānau are responsible for getting their children to attend and participate, while schools and kura have to be places where students feel they are safe and belong.

She said the strategy built further on the $88 million attendance package announced as part of Budget 2022.