As the cost of living rises, principals and parents are trying to trim back to school costs.
Western Bay of Plenty Principals Association president Suzanne Billington said she was aware how "tough" it was for a lot of families right now.
Western Bay of Plenty Principals Association president Suzanne Billington. Photo / George Novak
Billington, principal of Tauriko School, encouraged parents to talk to school staff if they were not able to afford stationery and uniforms.
"No school wants kids not at school because things are tight at home. We want to help as much as we can," she said.
All 320 pupils at Gate Pā School in Tauranga started the year with free stationery packs.
Principal Rochelle Jensen said the four-year-old initiative was about "alleviating the barriers" to student learning and taking the pressure off parents.
The free stationery bought about a "sense of relief" for some, she said.
"Whānau have enough to worry about. We want to be a support rather than an extra stress."
The only back-to-school cost for parents was purchasing a school polo, as lunch was also given to students through the Government's Ka Ora Ka Ako free lunch programme.
"We try to enable as much as we can - be a support not a stress - so that the kids can focus on their learning," she said.
"If we can take away those things that are perhaps stopping them from starting school or making them feel a bit whakama [ashamed] - that is what we want to do."
Tauranga Budget Advisory manager Shirley McCombe. Photo / George Novak
Tauranga Budget Advisory Service manager Shirley McCombe said back-to-school costs were "just one more expense" for already financially strapped families.
McCombe said she was "only just starting" to see the impact of term one costs but expected "many more" families would struggle this year with the rising price of food, petrol and accommodation.
She said some families in Tauranga were "already stretched to their maximum".
Mount Maunganui's Juliet Little, who runs non-for-profit All Children Matter, said finances could be particularly tight for some families as children return to school.
She started a Givealittle aiming to raise $10,000 to help provide children and teenagers with new uniforms, backpacks, lunchboxes and a week's worth of groceries.
Ministry of Education operations and integration hautū (leader) Sean Teddy said meeting back to school costs could be a "challenge" for some families.
"Schools and kura are conscious of this too, and seek to minimise costs to parents where they can."
The Government also played its part by providing a "range of supports" for schools to help families mitigate hardship at the start of the year, he said.
This included the donation exemption programme, which provides $150 per student to schools that do not ask parents for general donations.
More than 210,000 children also received lunches every school day through the Ka Ora Ka Ako programme.
The Ministry of Social Development gave specific support for low-income families to help with items such as uniforms or stationary, Teddy said.
Staff in nearly 200 schools and early childhood centres supported by national children's charity KidsCan have shared stories of the choices some families are forced to make as school goes back.
"Families are having to make heart-breaking choices, like whether to equip their children with the tools they need for learning or buy enough food," KidsCan's CEO and founder Julie Chapman said in a written statement.
"Students are starting school with a sense of shame that they do not have the right uniform or stationery, and they don't want to go."
Teachers surveyed said parents were going hungry to pay for uniforms, siblings were sharing a bus pass meaning only one can attend each day, and students were staying home due to the shame of not having the correct supplies.
